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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25429792">May the Force Be With You</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ngrey651/pseuds/Ngrey651'>Ngrey651</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Legends - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Action/Adventure, Drama, F/F, F/M, Gay Male Character, LGBTQ Character, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Romance, Science Fiction, Science Fiction &amp; Fantasy, Tragedy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-05 06:14:36</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>47,009</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25429792</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ngrey651/pseuds/Ngrey651</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Kendall is a fairly ordinary young man, a head nurse who works at a free clinic on Nar Shadaa, which is run by the Hutts...and the Sith couple known as the Dyad. Everything changes one day when Kendall's latent Force potential, however minimal it may be, gets tapped into when he finds a lightsaber. But becoming a skilled Jedi knight isn't easy, and freeing Nar Shadaa from the grip of amoral autocrats isn't something he can do on his own. But, with the New Republic investigating and sending Han Solo and Leia Organa themselves to help break the Dyad's grip on the planet then maybe, just MAYBE, Kendall can make something better out of the ashes of his old life, free Nar Shadaa, and put an end to the Dyad's cruelty. And he'd better do it soon, because the Dyad have found a tear in the Force, and it's only getting stronger and larger. With the Dyad having insane power over the planet, years more experience, and far stronger Force abilities, can even Han and Leia succeed? Can they even teach Kendall to be a PASSABLE Jedi? Only time will tell!...and they don't have that much of it...</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. May the Force Be With You: The Lightsaber</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’ve been meaning to do a story with my character Kendall for quite some time now, and at long last, I finally got a chance. So here’s the beginning of my little story. The excellent "cover art" here is by Zerna, whom you can find on Deviantart, and also on Tumblr. Enjoy!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p></p><div class="post-content"><p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p></p><div class="body-text"><p>
      <em>The noose is tight and heavy around his neck, feeling like a heavy snake constricting harder and harder with every passing moment. Jeers fill the air, foul, rotten smiles, disgusting-looking grins on face after face. How can a smile make someone look so, so much uglier? And it kept getting harder to breath. His lungs were burning, it’s as if someone stuffed newspaper inside them and set them on fire, and now they’re just slowly watching him die…and, well…they are. They tore off his beautiful blue jacket when he tried to run, and not a single one of them stopped to ask why someone like him had so many scars and cuts on his body.<b><br/>
</b></em>
    </p>
<p>
      <em>Why would they? People like them…even some OF these “fine folks” had given him those ugly marks on his frame. He’d almost made it into the house to close and lock the door when someone got lucky and actually lasso’d him, yanking him down the front steps, and now…now they were hanging him in front of his own home. If this was only just a month ago maybe his father would be rushing out to save him, but no he’s on his own. He was vulnerable, and he had made it clear to others in his community he was gay. </em>
    </p>
<p>
      <em>This was something they couldn’t accept. To them, it meant he’d been born morally blackened. It went against their beliefs in a just, fair God. And so such a blackened thing had to be gotten rid of. HE would have to be gotten rid of. God forbid his very presence make them question their faith a little. And God forbid some of them perhaps found the red-haired young man attractive, with his well-built frame. They had to kill their shame. </em>
    </p>
<p>
      <em>Kendall can’t breathe.</em>
    </p>
<p>
      <em>He can’t breathe.</em>
    </p>
<p>
      <em>He can’t…breathe…</em>
    </p>
<p>
      <em>Can’t…head…swimmy…spots…flaring up…before his…eyes…</em>
    </p>
<p>
      <em>Is that…a barbeque he smells…? Something’s cooking nearby? Why does it feel so much hotter all around-</em>
    </p>
<p>“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” </p>
<p>The red-haired young man awoke with a horrific start. His hair was a mess, even more fringe flopping over his face than normal as he groaned and held his head in his hands, taking in deep, long breaths, trying to calm himself down. In through the nose, out through the mouth. In through the nose, out through the mouth, and think of some calming scenery. A beach, long sand, the ocean stretching out before you. A huge, grassy valley. Fields of flowers. A soothing clearing in a deep forest with cute little woodland critters.</p>
<p>Deep breaths. Deep breaths.</p>
<p>“Okay…okay…okay. I’m okay. I’m okay.” </p>
<p>Zachary Archimedes Cadence Kendall reached across from his bed, his thick, grey and white comforter blankets he slept in utterly soaked in sweat from his body as he grabbed hold of a bottle of water on a nearby bedstand, and a small bottle of pills. He popped the top open of both, and tossed a couple of little, tic-tac-sized, pastel blue pills into his mouth and sloshed them around with the water before giving a loud gulp. Then he put both the bottles away and stood up, walking to the bathroom and deciding to pour himself a relaxing bath.</p>
<p>He tossed in a “bath bomb” from the little cupboard he kept his medical and bathroom supplies in, and the bath began to fill up with soothing blue crystals as the water finished pouring and he eased himself in, taking a deep, long sigh. He felt disappointed in himself. He was sure he’d had the PTSD symptoms under control, he’d been taking the medication every single night and he hadn’t had a dream like that for months now. </p>
<p>But…evidently not. He supposed that it was a relapse. He didn’t know what he expected, an attempted lynching wasn’t something most people would get over, not ever. But he should look at himself as lucky, he was alive. And despite the many scars and cuts and worst of all, the ugly, FOUL garroted ring around his neck that made it clear what had befallen him…he was alive. He was ALIVE.</p>
<p>And he had a big day today. Today, at long last, was his first day as head nurse at the free clinic on Nar Shadaa. </p>
<p>He let out a yawn as he rose out of the bath and got himself dry, getting his clothing on. His favorite dark blue jacket, big and thick and kinda floppy, his camo pants, black shoes, he looked himself over in the mirror, his blue eyes a-shining. His kind, Logosian, were very similar to humans, save for the rather unusual shine in their eye. A white geam that faintly brimmed around the pupil, and when the light caught it, it seemed to make the pupil itself turn white. There were, of course, other advantages to being Logosian, including a tremendous control over every single part of your body in a way few others had…</p>
<p>It was that control that made him such a good nurse and a great assistant to Dr. Morgan, who ran the free clinic. Kendall was soon making his way down from his apartment, and down the street, the towering, dark structures of the back alleys of Nar Shadaa rising high around him. Occasionally a window would gleam as a light turned on, but for the most part, it was early morning and all was dark, almost like night itself. The streets were a dark grey color, only a few people walking around as hovercars soared overhead, streaking like small, gleaming little boxes.</p>
<p>The clinic was in a building a block away in a rounded-top little place, with a large sign that read “Morgan Medical Clinic” on the front in bright neon during the night. When the day came, it switched to a slightly gaudier color scheme, but it got people’s attention all the same. Through the revolving door Kendall went, passing by a few people in the waiting room outside, the secretary sighing as he looked over a chart that a black-eyed, green-skinned alien with small spikes a-jutting from his head and bulbous-tipped fingers had given to him. The secretary got a small pair of pince-nez glasses off his desk with a tentacle, the rather octopus-esque being examining the chart.</p>
<p>“Okay, this all looks good. You should be warned though sir, Rodanian medicine isn’t Dr. Morgan’s specialty.”<br/>
<br/>
“Luckily I know a lot about them.” Kendall remarked aloud as he stopped and turned back to pat the patient on the back. “I’ll be happy to help you, sir, once I get my uniform on.” He nodded and turned to the secretary. “It’ll be fine, Orville, I’ve got it.”<br/>
<br/>
The Rodanian’s tubular-esque mouth turned into a smile as he sat down, Orville giving Kendall a nod of his big, slightly rubbery head. Orville was a really sweet guy who’d worked at the Hutt palace for a good decade before losing his job because he was caught sneaking snacks the Hutts were allergic to into work. He’d been lucky to get away with all his tentacles intact. Now he worked for them, and thankfully, none of the nursing staff nor Dr. Morgan were allergic to “Poofy Bites”. </p>
<p>Eager to get to work, Kendall headed into the small closet, getting on his uniform. Nice white gloves, shirt, pants, a facial mask, gloves, the whole shebang. And, of course, his little nametag. “Hi! I’m Kendall!” And TODAY…underneath that…</p>
<p>“Head Nurse”. Not “Nurse Practioner”. Head. Nurse. </p>
<p>“I got a good, good feeling about today.” He thought to himself as he walked back to let the Rodanian from before come on inside the clinic officially, into one of the patient rooms. Dr. Morgan waved at him from across the way, in the next room. He was, at the moment, tending to a normal human teen who had some very unpleasant wounds. Luckily, the Killik doctor was very skilled.</p>
<p>Like all Killiks, he was insectoid in appearance, looking like a mix of coleoptera and hymenoptera. Big sort of beetle-esque backside, a faintly hornet-esque head with a mandibled maw, four arms with sharp claws, several antannae sliding back from his skull and with deep orange eyes with dark black pupils as he looked the brown-haired young woman over. “These are some very unpleasant wounds indeed, how did you say you got them?” He asked aloud. He couldn’t “speak” with his mouth, like most Kiliks, he communicated with a mixture of methods, inlcuding pheremonal and electromagnetic transmissions to similar aliens to his kind, and outright telepathy to others.<br/>
<br/>
“I…fell in the shower.” The woman mumbled.<br/>
<br/>
Dr. Morgan knew she was lying through her teeth. You didn’t have to be psychic to know when someone was lying. He had seen this sort of injury many times before. It was, without a doubt, abuse. But since she was so young, being only 13, he had to ask.<br/>
<br/>
“Is everything alright with your parents?”<br/>
<br/>
“My mom isn’t handling my father’s death well.” She said quickly. “He got killed at those protests a while back, the Dyad’s men found him at work and…look, can you just patch me up?” </p>
<p>“It would appear you actually have some internal injuries, based on the scans. I will have to take more time than a simple application of Bacta.” He told her. </p>
<p>Luckily for Kendall, HIS patient didn’t need internal surgery. He smiled at one of the other nurses, Nurse Therra, who helped him get the Rodanian into the chair in the patient room, the twi’lek’s floppy head tentacles sliding down past her red-skinned cheeks as she adjusted the chair. “There. Is that good?”<br/>
<br/>
“Yes, it feels very nice.” He said as she took the Rodanian’s temperature and Kendall looked over the chart the patient had.</p>
<p>“Okay, we’re going to do a simple blood test.” He told the Rodanian. “We’ll find the right dosage depending on the results we get back.” He added as he held up a small injector that would take a little blood from the patient just by pushing it onto his skin. “Now, you’re going to feel just a little PINCH. Are you ready?” He inquired softly.</p>
<p>The Rodanian nodded as Kendall patted his shoulder and then knelt down and applied it to his arm. Soon he was analyzing the blood as Dr. Morgan called Therra into the room with him, as well as Nurse Jane, “Painkiller Jane” as Kendall liked to think of her as because she was so good at applying anesthetics, and Nurse Lomi, another Gran like Jane. The two almost coulda been twins, it was scary how much the multiple-eye-stalk-having aliens looked alike. Nice, big, muscular build, same smile, they even wore similar clothing. </p>
<p>It was a good thing that a lot of people came to the clinic lately. It showed a real need existed, that their work here was important. Especially with those awful protest injuries. People exercising their most basic of rights, the right of free speech, had been attacked. They’d first done meetings in the privacy of their own homes, then loosely organized gatherings, then finally in Nar Shadaa, out in the open. But the reactions from those who ran Nar Shadaa weren’t really pleasant at all. In the Outer Rim territories, dissent against people like Grakkus the Hutt or his compatriots was not tolerated. </p>
<p>It didn’t help that the place was already a haven for outlaws who were just fine with the Hutt Clan offering money to basically beat the shit out of unarmed protestors…or to kill them. Hey, if your money was good…free speech, schmee speech. Luckily, most of the protestors had gotten away, much to the local commandant’s embarrassment. But just because most got away it didn’t mean they got away scott free, a lot of them had been very badly hurt.</p>
<p>Thank goodness for this clinic, and for Dr. Morgan. It was good work they did there, Kendall thought to himself. Had he still been on Logos, his people might have said he was doing God’s work, but Kendall didn’t much believe in God at all. He never really had, and never really would. Kendall put no real stock in things he couldn’t truly verify, be it a god, be it the Force, be it the innate goodness of people. He put his trust in those who earned it, and Dr. Morgan had earned his ten times over by being a wonderful employer and just a great, decent person. </p>
<p>That wasn’t to say that Kendall didn’t sympathize with the protestors and their causes. He understood the philosophy of nonviolent resistance. And the strategy tended to work in the long run. The problem was the “long run” could take years, maybe even decades, and millions could die in the meantime. Yes, nonviolent resistance required more courage than combat, but honestly, armed resistance would be, in the end, what brought people like the Hutts and their compatriots, the “Dyad”, down. Kendall sometimes wondered if he should contact the resistance directly and get more involved, but he had a pretty good job here, and he was doing good work. So if it wasn’t broke…don’t fix it. </p>
<p>“Okay, based on the results of the blood test, you definitely have a mild case of Nobliar’s Syndrome, so here…” Kendall began looking through the cupboard up above the table in “Patient Room 3”. “You’re going to want to take several of these. Two a day ideally, if you feel even worse, three.” He handed the Rodanian a bottle of pills and nodded. “Now listen, these will combat the symptoms and, also ideally, will allow your body to fight Nobliar’s Syndrome off. But if it gets worse, we’ll have to bring you in for a hardcore Bacta bath, and we’ll take the next necessary steps.” Kendall told him as he showed off a small little tank of Bacta, the colorless, viscous fluid slopping about in the tank.<br/>
<br/>
“What’s IN bacta anyway?” The Rodanian wanted to know as Kendall beamed, his eyes practically glowing.</p>
<p>“Oh, it’s fascinating! It’s a mix of red alazhi and kavam bacterial particles. You mix them together with ambori, and the particles seek out wounds and promote rapid tissue regeneration while preventing the emergence of scar tissue. It really is astounding.”<br/>
<br/>
“Miraculous, really.”<br/>
<br/>
“Nah, just science, my friend.” Kendall chuckled. “The “miracle” of modern medicine and thank goodness we use it over kolto. Kolto’s less effective, takes far longer to heal you. A kolto for your cuts, sure, but no more than that.” </p>
<p>“Have you ever considered trying to get your throat healed with bacta, sir?” The Rodanian asked Kendall as Kendall inwardly cringed. He knew that, when people asked about his throat, most of them meant well, and were just legitimately concerned about what appeared to be a really awful, horrible injury. The tenets of the Logosian way of life had stressed that to forgive was divine. God, if you were willing, forgave all your sins. Well…he wasn’t God. So he didn’t have to forgive those motherfuckers who’d lynched him. </p>
<p>“Thanks, but…I actually want to keep it. Sometimes you want the scars.” He remarked as he led the Rodanian out of the room, and down the hallway to the waiting room, noticing something very odd. Orville was slightly quivering in fear and emanating a clear sense of nervousness, all the other patients were gone, and a slightly irritated-looking human woman with brown hair tied back into a small ponytail with dark brown eyes and two earrings in her left ear was standing there in the doorway. She had her hands on her hips and she looked very impatient indeed, and was wearing a white shirt with a dark brown vest, a pair of pants that didn’t reach all the way down to the top of her darker boots, a thick belt loaded up with various pouches, and a small pack on her back. She had armbands on as well, the same color as her dark brown belt, and she tilted her head a bit as she looked at Kendall.</p>
<p>“You’re a nurse? Ah, Head Nurse. Can you let the doctor know I need to see him immediately?”</p>
<p>“Oh, uh…he’s rather busy with a patient who has internal injuries. I can treat you though, depending on the nature of your injury, ma’am.” Kendall offered as the Rodanian headed out the door and Orville gulped.</p>
<p>“Kendall, she really, REEEEAAALLY wants to see the doctor.”<br/>
<br/>
“Indeed. Still…” The woman looked him over. “You might suffice. I happen to have my own internal injuries, I was regrettably badly wounded in a fight and my stomach feels as though it’s on fire.” She said, her voice having a faint, almost fancy-sounding accent to it. Kendall thought, very faintly, he could feel a strange, weird tingling sensation in the back of his head, that was creeping over his fingers as he led her into the patient room. She put her little pack down as she sat in the chair, and he began to scan her over</p>
<p>“Oh my, this is terrible!” He proclaimed, looking mortified. “Yes, your…your stomach and your intestines are…” Kendall was positively stunned. “However are you still alive, ma’am?”<br/>
<br/>
“I’m a very skilled healer in my own right, Logosian. Its not a miracle, it’s my own skill. But I can’t do THIS, unfortunately. I could only keep myself alive through sheer…well, I suppose you’d call it willpower. But there’s a limit even to that. So, I need your assistance posthaste.” She insisted as Kendall nodded and quickly got out an anesthetic from the closet. “No. No, no, I want to be AWAKE for this.”<br/>
<br/>
“Ah, I wouldn’t call it a miracle, ma’am. I don’t believe in the like. As for the medicine here, I can…ease the dosage so it doesn’t knock you out, but you’ll still feel a lot of pain even with the dosage level.” Kendall admitted. “I mean, if I don’t use a full dose, it’ll feel like your insides are being squeezed and kneaded…because, frankly, I’m going to have to do that to get them back in their proper place!”<br/>
<br/>
The woman looked surprised that Kendall was atheistic, most of the galaxy knew the Logosian people as ridiculously religious. This was very unusual. But before she could ask about this oddity, the pain flared up in her anew as she cringed. “No higher dosage. I want. To be. Awake.” She insisted as Kendall nodded and held up the injector, giving her a smaller dose of the anesthetic. The woman’s eyelids fluttered as she laid back in the chair, Kendall quickly getting his facial mask on, and pulling out tools from the nearby drawer built into the counter to his left. </p>
<p>A laser cutter would be what he’d use to open up her body to begin repairing the internal injuries. He bit his lip, carefully, slowly making the proper cuts as the woman chewed on her own lip, gripping the handles of the chair tightly and cringing. “ERGH…k-keep it up…” She insisted. “I can…take it.”<br/>
<br/>
The stomach was soon opened up, layers of flesh peeled back. It was truly terrible, obviously someone had tried to stab the woman and as a result of her attempt to heal the injury, her organs were where they shouldn’t be. It was as if she was trying to stop the bleeding by making a tourniquet within her very body. This was going to be immensely tricky. </p>
<p>He got his Bacta ready as he began slowly, carefully unwinding the intestines, spraying Bacta every once in a while. His grip was astoundingly steady, his eyes slightly narrowed as he peered into her insides. Gently does it, he thought to himself, her frame shuddering as she cringed, sweat dribbling down past her cheeks, her forehead. She was moaning in pain, and trying in vain to hold back the clear tears she wanted to shed. </p>
<p>Luckily, he was nearly done, after what seemed like HOURS, he’d finally gotten the organs in their proper place as he applied the Bacta spray again, and then pulled out the clear culprit…a knife, foul, twisted and with little spikes atop the blade. Ah ha, that’s what had done it.<br/>
<br/>
“C-Careful, it’s got a trap on it, don’t hold the handle close to the bottom-” The woman began to say. Kendall let go of the knife, but too late! SPLORGHK! A foul, wet nose rang through the air, his hand had been cut…cut right off! The woman stared in surprise, Kendall cringing, gripping his stump as he looked down at the ground and the ugly trick knife, an extra blade popped out of the end. “It got me that way too.” She muttered.</p>
<p>“Oh my, look at that, that’s no good. Hold on. You may want to look away.” Kendall said as he held up his stumpy hand section, the woman stunned. It…it wasn’t bleeding. The wound was clearly open, but neither the arm nor hand were bleeding. Kendall focused a bit, and the hand  then “walked”, skitting over to the knife, “kicking” it to the far side across the ground. “I’ll pick it up later.” He remarked as the hand leaped up, onto the chair, then THWUMP! Attached itself back onto his arm. </p>
<p>It was as if it had never been cut off. The woman stared as Kendall smiled back at her. “I’m from the planet Logos, ma’am. An advantage to our bodies is that, if someone cuts a body part of, well, we can control such parts, and force them right back to us. It’s quite helpful, really.” He told her. “I’ve learned how to do operations and the like with one hand whilst the other goes to get supplies from the next room or tends to Dr. Morgan.”<br/>
<br/>
“Very intriguing.” The woman said as she cringed and rubbed her forehead. “At any rate, I need to be going. I seem to be just fine at the moment and I need to meet my girlfriend at a restaurant to celebrate our anniversary together-” She looked up at the clock on the wall. “Oh shit. OH SHIT. I’m going to miss brunch if I don’t get there NOW!” She yelled, immediately bolting out of the room, down the hall and out the door, Kendall sighing as he began to take off the gloves and to wash his hands, removing his facial mask before noticing that the woman had left behind her little pack. She had taken it off when she’d sat down. </p>
<p>Maybe she had her wallet in there, some way to identify her so he could give her things back. At the same time though, it was his break! He’d been working at the woman for a long time and he could finally take a little break. He peeked outside…</p>
<p>Ah, Dr. Morgan was still hard at work. Guess he would be eating alone. Kendall took the bag with him after he took his uniform off in the bathroom nearby, and he entered the little lounge room, going to the replicator they had to order himself a little something for brunch as well. He sat down with his usual mixture of eggs, a fruit or two, some strips of bacon and a few nice slices of cheese but then he felt that odd, strange, tingling sensation rise in him.</p>
<p>He turned, looking at the little dark brownish/black pack the woman had had. Hmm. He was so tempted to look in there right now. Then again, the woman would probably be back once she realized she’d left it behind.</p>
<p>…maybe just a tiny peek. Just in case she didn’t come back. He wasn’t going to rob her, he’d never do anything like that. He’d just look for her wallet, maybe she had a phone in there and he could call her girlfriend up from that and say “Hey, your girlfriend left her stuff at Dr. Morgan’s clinic”. So he reached inside the pack, and-</p>
<p>He stiffened. He felt something. Something in a specific shape, a shape he had read about, seen in books, seen on the news and in movies and in plays and in games. A very, very familiar shape that was positively legendary. </p>
<p>Kendall slowly lifted the dark black cylindrical thing out of the pack. It was about…30 centimeters long, a pommel cap at the bottom, a ringed top, a silver streak going down the middle of the cylinder, with an activating button, an adjuster for the length of the blade and for the power, and when he turned the thing on…out it came. A distinctly reddish blade of pure power. This was not a knife. This was not a simple sword. </p>
<p>This was a lightsaber.</p>
<p>He held, in his hands, an actual lightsaber. He could feel a sense of real, true energy pulsating off of it, a reddish glow that coalesced and danced around the blade, and…the humming. It was faintly humming as he held it, almost…in a musical way? Such a strange note it was holding, strange, but not…not a bad sound. Just…different.</p>
<p>He felt so…strange holding it. He felt…good. He felt real good holding it. At peace in a way he’d never been before. It was as if he was hugging an old friend.</p>
<p>Then he realized what he should have thought of five minutes ago. A red lightsaber meant one thing and one thing only. This was not a Jedi weapon. This was a Sith weapon. He had unknowingly treated a Sith, and had probably saved her life. And he was damn, DAMN sure she’d be back for this lightsaber. She may have been in a rush to see her beloved, but no Jedi or Sith worth their salt was going to just abandon their lightsaber by accident, once she realized it was gone, she would come back for her pack, and her weapon, especially. </p>
<p>What was he going to do? Maybe he should just put it back into the pack, put it back where it had been, and pretend he’d never gone into it. Maybe he should give it to the secretary, have Orville give it back to her, be all “Oh, you left this in our office, here’s your pack back” and she wouldn’t be the wiser-</p>
<p>Then he heard a distinct voice yelling loudly. “I know I left it here, where is it?”</p>
<p>Oh crap. </p>
<p>She was here.</p>
<p>Crap. Crap. CRAP.</p>
<p>Kendall tried to calm himself as she raced into the room she’d been in, looking around before turning to see him, holding the lightsaber up. She stared at him, her mouth agape. </p>
<p>“I just…thought I’d take a peek inside for your phone to call you up and…” Kendall trailed off as the Sith’s eyes narrowed and her mouth became taut.</p>
<p>“You’re going to give me that lightsaber NOW, and then you’re going to take that knife and stab yourself in the eyes. I know it can’t REALLY hurt you, but you need to be punished anyway for picking it up. And then you’re going to forget you ever saw me!” She said as a sensation of deep, hard crushing weight seemed to barrel down on his skull for a brief moment before Kendall spoke up.</p>
<p>“No.”</p>
<p>The woman stared at him. Now her furious, sinister visage was one of sheer, dumbfounded stunned surprise. “…I SAID…you’re going to give me my lightsaber, stab yourself with that knife on the table, and then forget you saw me!”<br/>
<br/>
“…no.” Kendall said again. “No, I don’t think I will.” He remarked as he frowned a bit. “…what the hell are you talking about?”<br/>
<br/>
“…so you’re immune to mind tricks.” She murmured aloud. “…well…that changes things a bit. Yes…yes, I can tell, you’ve got a distinct Force presence in you. It’s…rather marginal compared to me, really, but…it is most definitely there.” She intoned as she shook her head, and then she held up her hand. THWOOSH! Everything in the room that wasn’t bolted or nailed down in some way now was floating up! </p>
<p>Kendall could no longer treat the Force as just a legend. While he knew some species were telepathic and telekinetic, finding the lightsaber and this sort of power, combined with that odd sensation he’d had on his skull and how he’d been feeling since he found the saber now made him more prone to believing that all he’d heard about the Force was real. And he needed to do something, and quick, if he wanted to survive against someone who could use the Force so easily.</p>
<p>She flung all of the objects at him, and it was as if all of time stood still. He could feel the blood pounding in his ears as he let loose a loud, terrifying, furious roar, and suddenly there was red slashing and slicing all around him with a swift series of motions. The humming melody from the saber throbbed in his ears as he felt his heart pumping all the more swiftly, and then, an instant later, the Sith was gazing at him in sheer, absolute shock.  </p>
<p>Every single thing she’d tossed at him had been cut into pieces. Now there was a real sense of fear faintly visible in her eyes that glimmered a bit, but her mouth became a taunt line as she reached into her vest, pulling out…another saber. </p>
<p>With a KRSSSH noise that rang through the air, she activated the red blade and held it up at him. “So you’ve got some blade skill. Not bad. But let’s see how you handle against a true Sith!” She proclaimed as she launched herself at Kendall. Kendall barely got the lightsaber he had up in time to block her blow, a loud SSSSSSZTTT sound ringing through the air as the two sabers met.</p>
<p>They tried to force the other back, both Kendall and the Sith cringing, gritting their teeth, circling around each other. They broke the lock of blades, then swung again and again! Over and over the blades met each other, loud, hissing cries echoing as the lightsabers struck one another. The Sith did a backstep, flexing with one hand, trying to yank Kendall towards her, but his resistance extended even to that, he cringed hard, biting his lip as he held his ground. </p>
<p>She kept trying to yank the blade out of his hand, it was as if Kendall was straining against a mighty tornado that was trying to yank him off his feet! But it wasn’t working. Then all of a sudden he sliced at the floor, and sent sparks flying up. She reeled back to avoid being blinded, and he leapt through the air, spinning, landing and doing a kick to knock her off her feet.</p>
<p>The Sith leapt up, avoiding his leg sweep, slashing with her saber. “HA!” She cried out, slicing his arm off, but then she remembered, a moment later, after a brief fleeting sensation of triumph slid into her…</p>
<p>Logosian.</p>
<p>His free hand grabbed hold of the nearby chair and he swung it at her as she, in turn, sliced down to cut it in half…as his arm, still holding the saber, tossed the lightsaber. SCHA-THWUUULPP!</p>
<p>It soared right through the air, stabbing her clear in the shoulder, and she let out a howl. It was the same shoulder on the same arm she held her current saber in,and Kendall leapt up into the air, catching the thrown saber, holding it up at her face as his arm hopped on back to him, and reattached itself with a faint POP. “A good thing these sabers cut so good and clean. I didn’t even get a BIT of shock from losing that off my body.” He remarked aloud. “Now. You’re…going to get out of this clinic. You’re going to leave. You’re going to forget you ever saw me. And you are never, ever going to come back.”<br/>
<br/>
“Oh, I don’t need to come back.” The woman snapped as she headed for the door. “…I can have my associates do it for me!” She proclaimed, as Kendall wiped his brow, his chest no longer feeling like his heart was screaming to leap free of his ribcage. Kendall made his way back to the waiting room, Orville fearfully looking over in his direction.</p>
<p>“Kendall…do you not know what you’ve done?” He inquired softly.</p>
<p>Kendall stared. “I know she’s a Sith. But I don’t think she’s going to come back. And if she does and with help, I’ll just report her to the authorities, I’m sure they’re not interested in Force wielder shenanigans causing trouble in their little corner of the galaxy, being a threat to their authority. After all, most Hutt HATE force-wielders.”<br/>
<br/>
“Not the Dyad!” Orville squealed as Kendall turned pale, and it felt like an icy knife was stabbed into the back of his spine. “Kendall, that was one half of the Dyad! I recognized her from when I used to work at the Hutt palace in the capital! She used to call me “Fishbait” and everything!” He squeaked out, covering his head in his many tentacles and groaning. “She’s Darth Raize! She and Darth Furiosa are the Dyad Sith that control Nar Shadaa along with the Hutts, and you just…you just tossed her out and stole her stuff, man! She’s going to come back with a whole squad of troopers and they’re gonna MURDER US!”</p>
<p>Kendall looked down at the lightsaber in his hand.</p>
<p>“…well. Then I guess I’m just going to have to do something about the Dyad.” He decided in a quiet, scary tone, as a glint came to his eyes that had never been there before…</p></div></div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. May the Force Be With You: The Tower</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“How much is it going to take to get these people off of Nar Shaddaa and as right into Republic territory?” Kendall looked deep into the eyes of the freighter captain as the Krex handled a “moon ball”, an orb that, if you concentrated on it with your mind, gave you verrrrry nice feelings indeed. It was almost erotic, really, and was one hundred percent an illegal drug. Well, except on Nar Shaddaa. The Krex captain, like all his kind, was a large, bulky reptilian alien with a big fat horn atop his head like a rhino, large jaws, five-fingered hands and his eyes happened to be a deep orange color with dark, large pupils as he wore a plain set of armor over his frame…and he had ludicrously large polearm strapped to his back.</p><p>Kendall was not, by any means, going to let Dr. Morgan or his staff stay on Nar Shaddaa when crime lords were almost certainly going to come by and murder them all. No way, no how. He’d explained the situation to them and they’d all agreed to pool their resources and leave. At the very least, until the heat died down. So they’d stripped the clinic of everything it had, taken all their money out of their accounts and were now eager to get a captain to take them into safer, Republic space. </p><p>“Show me your offer.” The Krex captain inquired as Dr. Morgan pulled out a small little datapad with some money from all of them added in. He slid it forward as the Krex captain clucked his tongue.</p><p>“Well, not much but…I can get you to…Naboo." </p><p>"Fine. Naboo is fine.” Kendall said as he nodded eagerly, the others all nodding as well as Kendall and them accepted the captain’s data pad to begin a transfer of money into his account as he led them out of the bar near the space port, and towards his ordinary-looking Corvette-class freighter. Kendall quietly looked into Dr. Morgan’s eyes as he gently took his, then each of the other’s hands…or Orville’s case, a tentacle.</p><p>“I just can’t go with you. All their focus is on me. I need to try and buy you some time.” He insisted to them all. “However little it’ll be, I have to try. And now that I know I have some power in the Force, maybe, just MAYBE I can do something to stop them.”</p><p>“You need help.” Dr. Morgan insisted. “Contact the Resistance. They’ve been speaking with the Republic in secret, they can get you help.”</p><p>“If things get that bad, I promise I will.” Kendall offered. “But I think I know how to handle the Dyad. After all, everyone knows where they live.”</p><p>Indeed…they did. The Dyad lived in the center of Nar Shaddaa’s capital city. You couldn’t possibly miss it, it was the largest, most show-offy, biggest tower in the entire capital, as if it was a spike stabbing up into the head of God himself. Other skyscrapers wished they were as fancy and as enormous as the tower the Dyads called home, the ‘Dynasty’. A marvel of engineering, the front entrance had guards patrolling at every minute of the day, every hour, loaded up with heavy weaponry. There were security checks at the front doors, more guards on the inside, loaded on every floor with high-powered pulsating plasma rifles. And there was of course the…Pit.</p><p>The Pit was outside, at the back entrance. It also had many guards, though not as much as the front entrance, but that was because they didn’t need it. The entrance to the back lowered down into, well, a kind of large pit, and there were doorways on either side, save for a single way in and out for “normal” arrivals. Those doorways that were always sealed held wild, dangerous animals that were incredibly hungry at that, and they yearned to devour anyone that came around. </p><p>It was whispered that people whom the Dyad really fucking despised got fed to the creatures in said “Pit”. Not that anyone was totally sure, because anyone who went inside wasn’t talking. And anyone who tried to go inside never talked about it again. </p><p>Still…the back entrance seemed a better way to get in. Not a single building was close enough for someone to rapport from there to the Dynasty Tower. You couldn’t just slide down a rope into a window, the windows were a type of transparent dura-steel. And you couldn’t go in on the roof, the very tippy top of the tower had missile launchers. </p><p>Learning about this had been quite the sight. No one would forget it. A ship had actually tried to attack the Dynasty from above, but the minute it got close enough, well, missiles launched from the roof had ripped through it like tissue paper and it exploded in a blazing inferno as people ran for their lives to escape the falling debris. Darth Raize and Darth Furiosa then had a press release put out explaining that if “Any other motherfuckers try anything as stupid as that, we’ll barbeque your families with lightning”. So nobody tried to get near the roof again. </p><p>No, no, the back entrance would be how Kendall would get in, he decided for himself as he watched his friends leave him, the Corvette cruiser ascending high, high into the starry skies above before he turned away, and began making his way back to the clinic. It was such a sad, empty place now. He quietly rested his hand on his old uniform as he laid it down on the table in the lounge, letting the past wash over him.</p><p>Years and years of helping people here in the clinic, getting steadily better, faster, more accurate at the more complicated procedures. He’d felt more fulfilled and happy than anyone probably had the right to be, knowing he was making a difference in people’s lives and nobody would ever judge him. Here in a place like Nar Shaddaa, it didn’t matter what he looked like or whom he was attracted to, all people had wanted was someone to heal them, and if you did that, you could make a friend for life in some cases. </p><p>It was a good…<b>good </b>feeling…it had been a good life. </p><p>And now it was gone. Maybe…maybe he shouldn’t have helped that Sith. Kendall chewed on his lip as he headed into the office of Dr. Morgan, folding his arms over his chest. He stared long and hard at the big, fancy poster on the wall, one of the few things that they’d all left in the now empty relic that was the clinic. “I swear to use treatment to help the sick according to my ability and judgment, and never with a view to injury and wrongdoing. I will keep pure in my life and my art. I will help the sick, I will abstain from harm, especially from abusing the bodies of man or woman, slave or free. I will prevent disease whenever I can, for prevention is preferable to cure." </p><p>He’d taken that a similar vow too, as a nurse. The "Pledge”. “I shall abstain from whatever is deleterious and mischievous, and shall not take or knowingly administer any harmful drug.</p><p>I shall do all in my power to maintain and elevate the standard of my profession and will hold in confidence all personal matters committed to my keeping and all family affairs coming to my knowledge in the practice of my calling. I shall be loyal to my work and devoted towards the welfare of those committed to my care." </p><p>He was a nurse. And when people were hurt and they came to him for help, then…he had to help, didn’t he?</p><p>Truth be told though, Kendall had, at first, rather disliked this pledge. It reminded him of an oath to God, and he was very much a non-believer. He’d been so ever since he was young, and his father had been unable to give him a good reason why he had no mother. His dad kept saying that Kendall had been a gift from God. "Just be content. When God gives you a gift, no need to ask why it was sent. Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, as the saying goes.” His father had insisted. </p><p>Unfortunately, every day he kept getting REMINDERS he had no mother. And people were beginning to say that Kendall’s father Morgan Archimedes Cadence Kendall had done some sick, disgusting thing to have a child. First they’d said he’d experimented on himself, and that Kendall was a test tube baby, and somehow “inferior” as a result. Then they’d said no, it was probably worse! He’d sold his soul to the Devil for a child! And where was his birth certificate anyway?!</p><p>They’d been kept at bay when his dad was around because his father wasn’t just the type who took no guff. He was a crack shot, and even better with a sword, something he’d taught Kendall about when he was younger. His father could separate the head of a bear or a wild cat or a dog from its shoulders with astounding swiftness, as if all others around him were moving in water, but Kendall hadn’t been quite as good as him.</p><p>He’d certainly tried when his dad had finally died and people had worked up the…courage…to lynch him. He’d fought off quite a few of them, hands, arms, chunks of chest had gone flying but eventually, he’d been overpowered and…and he’d almost died. And the marks of the rope remained around his neck. </p><p>Their final straw had been when they’d found out he’d been seeing that nice, sweet kid. He’d only been a year younger than Kendall, but they were both looking forward to the next year of college. </p><p>“It’s crypto-facist mania, it’s silicone deliria.” Kendall had insisted to Lincoln Ichabod Nicholas Karson. Logosians always had nice, long names and ol “Link” was no exception as the long-haired kid with whitish/blond hair had chuckled as they sat down to eat lunch. </p><p>“Yeah. You’re right. But I like the cafeteria.” He had remarked. “And you know…I know you like me, and I like you, we’ve been kinda…why don’t we just do it?”<br/>
<br/>
“You mean…like, right here?” Kendall looked around. Other students and some teachers were now staring at them as the vibrant green eyes of Link gazed back at him. A deep sense of forbidden joy was rising in him as Kendall took Link’s hand. “You know what, you’re right. I don’t want to hide this stuff anymore, this is stupid. There’s nothing wrong with us being in love. Let alone a kiss.”</p><p>And with that, they’d kissed. They’d ignored the angry yelling and the boos, and had been lost in a beautiful, sweet moment that had lasted for what seemed like hours before they broke the kiss off, and Kendall had smiled deep into their eyes. </p><p>“Don’t ever change.” Link had insisted. </p><p>The next week…Kendall’d had a noose around his neck. And he had to leave the planet. It was simply too dangerous. He’d promised to keep in touch with Link, and they’d kept up a relationship for a good two years more, writing to each  other, holo-visits, once or twice every few months meeting in secret on a planet close to Logos in disguise, and he’d been happy, but…</p><p>But…then one day, he remembered holding Link’s hand, and his hair was falling down over his eyes, and it looked like he was crying. He was saying something but…</p><p>But…</p><p>Ugh. Remembering the past was dangerous. It led you down a slippery slope, more often than not. Kendall shook his head as he exited the clinic for what was probably the last time, hands in his pockets, one hand thinking about the lightsaber that laid inside. If he had access to the Force, perhaps…he should try out several powers. What if meeting that Sith, finding the saber, had awakened something more in him than just a surprising affinity for lightsaber combat? </p><p>Unfortunately, his attempts to try and get the Force to work for him the way he’d heard of it in stories didn’t work so well. About a block away from the Dynasty tower, Kendall gave it a shot at a small construction site infested with some irriating womp rats. The nasty little buggers hissed at him and he tried to reach out with the Force, to feel their minds, to make them leave. After all, a “Jedi Mind Trick” meant your mind could gain power over others. Surely he could make some stupid rats leave.</p><p>But no, it was a miserable, miserable failure. The rats just hissed at him, others glancing at each other. Kendall tried again and again, trying to focus on a pinpoint spot, to try and hear that faint humming he’d heard from the lightsaber, that almost musical sound, the moment he’d truly felt connected to the Force, but…nothing. He simply wasn’t connecting. He tried, instead, to focus on just levitating a small rock or two nearby, biting his lip, staring at the rocks, unblinking.</p><p>Nothing. Not a single rock so much as shifted even a millimeter in place. He tried again, holding his hand out, sweat beads breaking out on his forehead. “Moooove…move, c'mon, MOVE!”</p><p>If the womp rats were sentient, they would have been laughing hysterically, because the stupid rocks would not move. </p><p>So he got out the lightsaber and he lifted it up, taking in long, deep breaths before he turned it on, swinging it about. Now, NOW he could hear it, that lovely sound, it all felt so natural, so normal. He tossed a few rocks up, and then began to cut! He twirled the blade about in crisscrosses, he spun it in swift circles, it was as if the entire world around him had slowed to a halt and only he moved. His fluidity was astounding, and when he’d finally finished, he deactivated the lightsaber, looking at the rocks.</p><p>Sure enough, they were in neat, astounding, tiny little cubes no bigger than sugar cubes. </p><p>“Clearly, the Force does not want me happy.” Kendall sighed. “It does not want me happy, but it will give me this. Fine…fine. I’ll…I’ll take it.” He mumbled. “Okay, Force, look, I will take any guidance, ANY gift you have for me. Really. Go ahead. Hit me with some wisdom. I will never, EVER ask any kind of metaphysical anything for help, but I’m making an exception for you. Anything for me?”</p><p>That was when Kendall felt an odd tingle rising up his spine and he turned to look down the block in the direction of the Dynasty tower, up at the very top. His eyes gazed up, blinking. Wait a minute, for a second, he thought he’d seen…something “off”. It was as if the air around the tower had shifted and morphed. How strange. It seemed the Force WAS trying to tell him something, something big was happening inside that tower, something that disturbed it, and perhaps he was the closest help available. </p><p>“Well…” Kendall held the saber hidden in his large blue jacket sleeve, thinking of the little…items…he’d put in his belt pouch, and in the pack he’d taken, the same pack that Darth Raize had left behind. He’d filled it up with medical supplies and the weaponry left over that the clinic had to defend itself, mostly things like specialty grenades, and he’d have to make careful use of them as he made his way down the street and towards the tower’s back entrance.</p><p>Guards of every type were patrolling the “Pit”, talking to themselves, chatting it up excitedly. Evidently, Darth Raize had just returned in a fury with her beloved after a dinner had gone VERY bad, and they were talking about raining holy hell on someone, though they had no idea who. But they would soon enough because now Kendall walked right up to one of the guards, who stupidly stared at him, totally astounded that some rando would just walk right up to them.</p><p>“Hi, I’m going inside.” Kendall said, waving one hand in the air, the other in his pocket as the guard stared at him.</p><p>“…are you trying to do a Jedi mind trick or something?” he asked as the other guards began to snigger, raising their weaponry.</p><p>“Nah. But it was worth a shot.” Kendall confessed right before they realized his hand wasn’t in his pocket, but in his pants, and something slid down from out the bottom as Kendall ducked, covering his face.</p><p>SHA-THWOOOSH! A flashbang grenade! The guards howled, cringing as Kendall raced forward, pile-driving the nearest ones as those near the back who hadn’t been quite as blinded by the light whipped their rifles out. The loud BUDDA-BUDDA-POW of rifle fire rang through the air as Kendall twisted and turned as if dancing on the wind, the lightsaber a-slashing and slicing, deflecting the blows before he deactivated it quickly and slammed both his fists into pressure points on their knees.</p><p>The guards to either side of him howled and dropped down, Kendall ducking to avoid more shots as he launched another grenade through the air, a stun grenade that struck one guard right in the chest, sending him cascading back as a loud, powerful explosion ripped through the air, the nearby guards caught in the large stun field as Kendall barreled at them and he leapt up, up, landing on his hands, spinning around and kicking with his legs. </p><p>Kendall was not a good shot. But when it came to close-quarters combat, this was something he was proud of. He had rather long and well-toned legs too, something that people attracted to him couldn’t help but notice. He’d been pretty proud of being on the track team at school, and he’d kept up keeping them in shape even after all these years. THWAK-THWAK-THWAK-THWAK! His feet slammed into their skulls, knocking them unconcious as the other guards at the front entrance now had recovered from the flashbang and were firing at Kendall in a near-blind fury!</p><p>Well, “almost” recovered. Their aim was piss poor, they were still seeing spots before their eyes, and Kendall ducked and weaved to avoid their rifle fire, giving them each good, solid boots to the head, a nice, coconut-sounding noise an-echoing through the air as his feet found their mark, and he dusted himself off, glancing around.</p><p>Well! That had been a bit of a challenge but…so far so good! Every guard was now out cold, and there just remained that pit. He couldn’t leap far enough over the thing to just reach the door, no, he’d have to go down inside the pit, cross it and get to the back door. So Kendall decided to just bolt for the door…</p><p>As a large, enormous shutter closed over it, and the first door to the pit opened, a small announcement system built into the shutter speaking as he heard Raize’s voice. “You do know we have cameras out here, right? We saw you attempting to break in. I would find your fighting skills impressive if not for the fact that someone with true force skill would have done far, far better. You left them alive. We shan’t show you the same mercy.”</p><p>“I know, it’s why I’m a better person than you are.” Kendall reasoned aloud. “You two are amoral, you threatened to go after my friends, and now you’re gonna pay.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, do you think this is any kind of real conversation? You actually think we’re going to come down to watch you die or something? We’re on the top floor, butt naked, and eating popcorn off each other’s naked bodies as we watch you fail miserably and get fed to our favorite krayt dragon.” Raize remarked nonchalantly. </p><p>“You didn’t have to tell him we were NAKED.” A voice that Kendall was sure was Furiosa whispered back. She had a strange accent he couldn’t place. Odd. </p><p>“I don’t care if you’re naked, I’m into men.” Kendall said as he heard a loud, growling hiss, and something big, fanged and reptilian began to emerge from one of the pit’s doors. </p><p>“But you’re a LOGOSIAN…” Furiosa said aloud, sounding very confused. “…ugh, I will never understand their type, honestly.”</p><p>“I know, it’s rare to see a Logosian atheist, let alone a gay one. But not QUITE as rare…as our loooovely albino krayt dragon.” Darth Raize remarked with a chuckle as Kendall stared ahead in shock. My, oh, my, if it wasn’t about to try and eat his insides, he might have found it a VERY nice specimen of animal indeed. It was a long, reptilian creature with a horned head, razor sharp fangs, clawed paws, a mixture of alligator and dragon all rolled in one, with scales like gleaming white pearls all across its body, and pinkish eyes that were vibrant and pulsating. </p><p>Kendall cringed, holding the lightsaber up. He took up a fighting position, taking in a long, deep breath as the creature raced at him, and he dove to the side, slashing at it. KRRZZTT! The thing’s scales were astoundingly strong, it was resistant against the blade.</p><p>“Oh did I neglect to mention that albino krayt dragons happen to be nigh-immune to lightsabers?” Darth Raize inquired with a distinctly smug sound in her voice as Kendall ducked to avoid the thing’s swiping, thick tail. “We were able to tame it with pure, raw Jedi mind power. Go ahead. Wow us." </p><p>Kendall was now sweating a little nervously as he fought the creature, ducking to avoid its swiping claws and snapping jaws, the thing’s breath was hot and heavy and it reeked of decaying meat. He cringed deeply, the thing lifting its whole body up, slamming its paws down on him at once as he held the saber up.</p><p>"ERRGGGHHH!” he panted heavily, feeling his knees buckling beneath the weight! He couldn’t cut into the thing’s scaly skin at all, really! It was barely feeling this. It was like being hit with a hot stick for the dumb thing. It might have hurt a little but it was mostly just being irritated this stupid, red-haired little morsel wouldn’t DIE. </p><p>“Oh my stars and garters, you can’t actually use the Force to make it leave, can you?” Darth Furiosa realized aloud. “Oh WOW, you’re like…one of the most pathetic Force Users I’ve ever seen. Any moron who’s really, really good with swords can be skilled enough to use a lightsaber, to not even have the basics of Force powers…can you even lift things with the Force? Wow, this is hilarious!" </p><p>"You two sound like supervillains!” Kendall angrily yelled back. “You DO know that, right? You’ve got the evil lair, you feed people to big, dangerous pets, you wear all dark robes, you kill anyone who gets in your way, and you’re in charge of a big criminal empire, I’m amazed ANYONE works for you when you’re so obviously evil!”</p><p>Darth Furiosa let loose a very loud, foreign string of words that were definitely expletives as Raize surpressed a snort, and then managed to say “And I’m amazed you’re still standing. I give you two more minutes." </p><p>This thing was so heavy! Kendall couldn’t push it off…his knees couldn’t handle much more of this. He had to do something. Fast. REAL fast. Cringing, he shook his belt around, the pouches popping open as he shook his left side. PLOP, another grenade flopped out, Kendall now being pushed down-down-down to his knees! He cringed hard, gasping, his arms felt like they were on fire as he tried to hold the lightsaber up. He only had room for ONE shot. </p><p>He quickly took one hand off the lightsaber and activated the last flashbang as he closed his eyes. </p><p>FWOOOSH! The krayt dragon was blinded, it feeled back, Furiosa and Raize yelling angrily as Kendall, meanwhile, took off like a bat out of hell, running as fast as he could, barreling down the street at top speed, his arms hanging limply, his legs feeling like jelly, yet even then he continued to run as he finally flopped down into an alleyway a few blocks down the way, resting against the wall, and reaching as best he could into his pack, to down a small medical potion.</p><p>The balm was soothing. He could feel his injuries beginning to heal, but without a doubt, he knew he’d been humbled. He had been put to the test and he had failed. He had failed MISERABLY. He simply couldn’t get past that krayt dragon. And he simply could not, in any way, take on two much more skilled Sith who by now had realized he could only swing a lightsaber around.</p><p>They knew he would come back. He didn’t really have the element of surprise anymore, and he couldn’t overpower the Dyad. </p><p>What was he supposed to do? </p><p>…what COULD he do? </p><p>Well, there was one thing. One place he could go to. </p><p>He had to talk to the Resistance. He had to talk to the Republic. </p><p>He had to find a Jedi. He had to…had to…</p><p>“Damn, I can’t keep my eyes open…” He moaned, flopping onto his side, the stress and the damage from the battle finally overwhelming him. </p><p>
  <em>And there he was. Link. Standing at the spaceport, his hands in Kendall’s. He was trying to say something, but Kendall couldn’t understand at first. But he could hear his own words.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“But you asked me to be this way. You told me to never change. And I did that for you. Because I love you. Can’t we try harder? I’ll be better at this. I’ll visit you more often.”<br/>
<br/>
Now…now he COULD hear what Link said.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“That me was a me from a million years ago. I’m not the same person. I can’t ask you to do that because I just can’t be the person you want. And you can’t be the person I want. Both of us are clinging to this…idea…of who we think the other should be, what we should be, but it’s a dream, a dream we need to wake up from. Because we’re not the same people anymore.”<br/>
<br/>
“But I love you.”<br/>
<br/>
“…and…I love you. You were my first everything, and that’s always…that’s always staying but…but I just can’t. I can’t anymore. I just…I just don’t, Kendall. I can’t help it. I just…don’t love you the way you want me to. The way I used to.”</em>
</p><p>Kendall awoke with a start, feeling a womp rat nibbling on his hand. He angrily snarled at it, the thing screeching, racing off as he buried his face in his hands, groaning…before he pulled the hands away, realizing his cheeks were wet. </p><p>“…maybe God is real. Cuz it feels sometimes like he really…fucking…hates me.” Kendall mumbled. </p><p>…</p><p>…</p><p>…</p><p>… “When someone desires information, they ALWAYS come to me.” </p><p>The woman’s face was hidden in shadow as she folded her arms over her chest, looking the droid over. “Don’t go wasting my time with games, 8t88. The Republic wants answers. So explain.” She insisted. The bar was faintly smoky, soft music played in the background from the band as people quietly chatted it up in corners and at tables. Unbeknownst to the black, steely droid who’s clawed hands drummed on the table, she’d set a tiny little tracker droid on him. It had scuttled out of her pocket and onto his leg. If he felt it, he didn’t seem to give it away. “We’ve been tracking a very unusual energy reading from Nar Shaddaa, readings that were sent to us by a very brave inside man that was concerned about the experiments being done by this “Dyad”.” </p><p>“Oh yes, I know about them. It’s a matter of temporal mechanics. They’re examining how the Force influences time and space itself.” 8t88 remarked. His skull wasn’t normal for his body, it was more like a lowly diplomatic droid, with a singular blue eye and an odd speaker-mouth of sorts, a bulbous skull-esque protrusion at the back of his head as he looked the woman over. Very odd, it appeared as though she had a high class disguise on he couldn’t get his sensors to see through. </p><p>He COULD, however, see his bounty hunter guards had appeared at last and they were close behind her, and had drawn their guns. He would have grinned if he could have, nonchalantly spreading his arms a bit. “Needless to say, I actually met your inside man. He’s now inside of a krayt dragon, the dyad didn’t much care for him revealing that to your Republic.” </p><p>The woman looked disgusted. She was about to say something when she felt a blaster sticking into her skull.<br/>
<br/>
“Ooh, that looks uncomfortable. I’ll be taking your blaster now, so nobody gets hurt.” 8t88 mocked her as he held out a hand and the woman deposited hers into his. “Now then…my clients, the Dyad, happened to pay me much more than your Republic did. She’d like to know if you have any OTHER inside men in their operations. We want their names. Tell me what they are and these men need not indulge in their…darker sides.”<br/>
<br/>
“The dark side? I’ve been there. Do your worst.” The woman said as 8t88 rose up. </p><p>“Well, I suppose that concludes our business.” He coldly said in his mechanical voice as he sauntered out the door and a Gran gunman sat down in the recently-vacated seat, his brother pushing the blaster barrel into the woman’s head more firmly.</p><p>“I remember your SCENT. It’s you. Do you remember me, you little bun-haired bitch? It took me three…months. THREE MONTHS for that blaster burn to heal.”<br/>
<br/>
“No, no, can’t say I do remember.” A voice rang out before a loud TSSEW rang through the air, and the first Gran’s gun went flying. The Gran across from the woman gasped as the woman held a hand up and THWIP! His gun sailed out of his hand and into hers. “But the streets are filled with trash. Hard to tell one piece from another.” </p><p>From out of the darkness he stepped as the woman clicked a button on her belt, and her disguise faded. Two brown-haired humans, one with hazel eyes, another with brown. One with slightly messy hair, the other with hair done up in a bun atop her head as they smiled at one another. Han Solo adjusted the vest he wore as Leia Amidala Skywalker dusted off the white, sleeveless shirt she had on, smirking a bit at the Gran. </p><p>“Now then…my husband and I will be taking our leave. We really should have lunch sometime, though. Do take care.” She said as she and Han made their way out of the bar, the two Gran brothers looking dejectedly at each other. </p><p>“Nobody told me she was a damn JEDI…” The Gran who’d sat across from her grunted. </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. May the Force Be With You: The Dyad</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
<p></p><div class="post-content">
<p></p><div class="body-text"><p>Darth Raize had been sure of only a few things in her life when she was younger. The Force was awesome. She wanted to do what Sith and Jedi could do. And she loved her parents. A cute girl with her hair tied into an adorable bun that had lived on Tattooine, she’d yearned to do what Force users could. <b><br/>
</b></p><p>Darth Furiosa had lived a fairly normal enough life…for a child of the Sith. Her people were from a different galaxy where the Sith reigned, or at least, an offshoot of them who had developed a slightly more “liberal” view on what it meant to be a Sith. It was in essence, more about hedonism and feelings and freely enjoying oneself without tying yourself down to strict rules and moral codes. </p><p>Everything went wrong with their parents, though. That was a shared trauma they could speak up. For Raize, she’d found her parents had taken off, because in order to pay for the home she had, they had taken on immense amounts of debt.  But now it had come time to collect, and they had to run. They left behind a datapad for Raize to find when she came back home from a day at the local community school, urging her to meet them on the outskirts of the territory, just grab what she could and run, and destroy the datapad too so nobody knew where they’d gone.</p><p>Unfortunately, that was when the debtors hired muscle had shown up. Raize had only just smashed the pad across the room and had raced for her room to grab a pack when hired goons with guns had smashed their way into her home. The good news was she’d learned that day she HAD force powers. She COULD do what they did. Truly, the force WAS awesome. </p><p>But she never saw her parents again, and all the love she’d had for them turned into hate for not telling her about the danger they’d been in, for not WAITING for her, for just taking off and assuming that she’d find them. </p><p>Furiosa’s mother and grandmother had taken her to the galaxy that Raize had called home, and they’d gone right to Coruscant upon hearing it was the “hub” of commerce and industry and politics, the center world of the galaxy, where the government ruled. What they hadn’t counted on was having Jedi there. </p><p>Luke Skywalker may have been more willing to go easy on them had Furiosa’s mother not casually tried to use a powerful Jedi mind trick to force the assembled senate to leap from their balconies to their deaths when they’d refused to give her a position of power. It also hadn’t helped that Leia was there too, and though she was still learning how to be a full Jedi, she was surprisingly a good match for Furiosa. </p><p>Furiosa couldn’t believe a newbie who’d barely swung a lightsaber was matching her skills as Luke fought off her grandmother and mother. And the more Furiosa fought, the more angrier and more furious she got, and unfortunately, she got sloppy. Leia had told her to give up, she was only making it worse, her and her family were going to prison for what they’d just tried to do. Yelling furiously at Leia to shut up, Furiosa had swung her saber, only for Leia to slash at just the right angle, breaking Furiosa’s saber apart just as Luke blew Furiosa’s mother up against a wall with a Force push, guards rushing to pin her down as he turned on Furiosa’s grandmother.</p><p>He’d ordered her to stand down. It was over. Come quietly and peacefully, and you wouldn’t be harmed any more. Leia had been grateful to see such compassion from her brother even now, after all, this was the same person who’d tried to talk down not only Jabba the Hutt, but Darth Vader himself, even the Emperor to an extent. Furiosa’s grandmother had not taken this well. She’d spat at him, and lunged at him, lightning crackling from her fingers.</p><p>This had not ended well, because that had been when Han had appeared, having come back from the bathroom, and his blast shot soared through the air, striking the side of the woman’s head, and she’d slumped to the floor, dead. Furiosa’s mother had screamed, sending guards flying, Leia had dived for several, using the Force to keep them from cascading down, down the large abyss below as the Coruscant senate decided they should take action too. </p><p>Those who had weapons began firing them at Furiosa’s mother, Han joining in, Furiosa trying to keep a Force shield up, but she was being steadily knocked back, further and further towards the edge. Luke had called out for them to stop, she was about to topple over, but too late. She fell back. NOW the shooting stopped.</p><p>Luke raced forward, arm stretched out. He reached out with the Force, trying to pull Furiosa’s mother up…and she’d slashed at his hand with her saber, angrily snapping at him, and he’d lost his concentration. This time she fell…and nobody caught her as she finally hit the far-off floor below with a sickening, wet CRUNCHING noise that echoed through the air as Furiosa screamed, and barreled out of the room as fast as she could before anyone could stop her. </p><p>She had forcibly taken over a ship in the dockyard, killing the guards who were on duty, and headed to its pre-programmed destination…Nar Shadaa. A place known for lawlessness. A place where she could build herself up.</p><p>But she wasn’t the only one going. Raize had decided to go there as well. She’d read from her parents datapad that they’d once LIVED on Nar Shadaa. They’d even left behind a little keycard to their old home but they’d moved to avoid debtors and to give birth to Raize in a slightly safer place. If anything was still there though…Raize would take it.</p><p>In a matter of months, the two would find each other. Raize had taken a new identity, she’d set up home in her parents old, tiny apartment and had met Furiosa when she’d tried to steal her credits from her pocket. She’d taken her fellow teenager home, and they’d struck up a conversation…and then she’d been staying over. </p><p>Soon they were eating meals together, and sharing one another’s secrets, and showing off how they could use the Force, and Furiosa had taught Raize the Sith Code. </p><p>“Peace is a lie. There is only Passion. Through Passion I gain Strength. Through Strength I gain Power. Through Power I gain Victory. Through Victory my chains are Broken. The Force shall free me.”</p><p>“I dunno…I think you’d look good in chains…and maybe a ball gag?” </p><p>“Oh, you naughty girl!” THWUMPH. And a pillow right to the face!</p><p>Yes, it had been a pretty good life, but they’d wanted more. And that was when they found…perhaps even created…what led them doing so well. </p><p>The apartment complex was the largest building in Nar Shadaa’s capitol, and Raize had been looking out the window, talking about how much she yearned for a more beautiful, better place for them to live. That had been when they’d both felt a strange tugging sensation, pulling them to the top of the building, to the roof. They’d gone to the top of Nar Shadaa’s tallest tower, and had reached out with the Force, and had stepped through what appeared, to them…to be a rip in the very air before them, and they’d vanished for what seemed like only a day.</p><p>When they’d returned, they’d aged a year. But they’d brought back quite a lot, backpacks filled with items from far, far away indeed. Items they intended to make use of…and to reverse engineer, and to exploit. And the best item of all…</p><p>Was a slightly dusty black binder filled with discs. Discs loaded up with music. Hundreds, if not thousands of songs and they intended to hear what was on them. It was hard to find a disc player that worked on those particularly odd, alien ones, but Raize was skilled in the tech department, she’d been tinkering for years, she had a keen mind for engineering and her efforts bore fruit as they heard the music of another world. Clearly what they had found was a rip in space. The Force had given them a way to go to another realm just by stepping through this rip, and as long as nobody else found it…they could exploit it. </p><p>Exploit it they did. They passed the music off as their own. Nobody could call up the artists themselves and disprove that the two weren’t making their own music. They sold the songs to the masses of Nar Shadaa, then across the Outer Rim. Soon it was spreading through the galaxy, song after song stolen by Raize and Furiosa. They were quickly becoming insanely rich, and within just a month, they’d bought the entire apartment complex, forced everyone else out, and had ordered renovations to make it into what they REALLY wanted.</p><p>More and more money flowing in meant more power. They set up meetings with the Hutts, who were very, very interested in the relaxing jazzy music they’d uncovered. They liked the slow, methodical beatworks and rhythm, the deep, soulful singing. The two women spent weeks cozying up to the Hutts and learning the inner workings of Nar Shadaa, and soon, they’d gained contacts…powerful contacts. Criminal contacts. </p><p>It was amazing, really, what money could buy. Including, perhaps, an election. The Galactic Republic still had representatives on the planet who were TECHNICALLY in charge, even though the Hutts were the ones who really ran everything. The Representatives were more figureheads, it wasn’t like the laws they tried to pass really got followed. But Raize and Furiosa had decided they wanted to kick them off the planet. They had the money to buy advertisements and support in various media stations, they could astroturf supporters for rallies, they’d even begun buying their own fleet now, a fact that people were becoming increasingly aware of because all of a sudden a LOT more ships with the “Dyad’s” logo on them were soaring around Nar Shadda’s skies.</p><p>All of it was a show of soft power. And it appeared to work. The Galactic Republic were forced to leave Nar Shadaa, exiting the race for Representatives, and the women held a triumphant press conference. </p><p>“We are really looking forward to making sure Nar Shadaa is represented by actual Nar Shadaans.” Raize had insisted. “My own parents were from here, and they had to leave because the system just didn’t do enough to protect them. Now we ARE the system, and that changes. It ALL changes.”<br/>
<br/>
Reporters murmured and whispered, others shouting out questions, photos being taken of the women as holo-vid cameras recorded their every movement and word from their lips as Furiosa spoke up.</p><p>“We’re going to be improving the docking yards for ships, for one thing. And we’re going to completely get rid of the current police department and put in some more competent cops, and we’re going to do the same to the military if it won’t adhere to our stricter rules. No more slacking off. No more messing up. No more listening to rules shackled in red tape! Without the Galactic Republic holding us back, Nar Shadaa will be more bright and beautiful than ever!” Furiosa said. </p><p>They began calling on reporters, who asked various questions, including very easy softballs, like the fact the reporters noticed a wedding ring, one of them asking “when did you get that”?. There was a lovely “Awww” moment as the couple kissed, explaining how they’d finally gotten engaged, and were going to have their wedding soon. But then another reporter spoke up, a Trandoshan in a soft white suit, wearing thick goggles and looking disturbed.</p><p>“You’ve dismantled the police department, the army, AND you’ve begun developing an increasingly large fleet. You own most of the media companies here on the planet, and you’ve kicked off the only outside influence the planet had, meaning all that’s left in terms of people in power, are you and the Hutts, who run the Underworld, and you’ve made it no secret that you’re on good terms with them. How is what you’ve done not just replaced one type of authoritarian rule with another that’s even more fascistic? What exactly is to stop you from deciding “You all don’t get to vote because you don’t vote the way we like”, or to create a standing army that’ll stomp out any opposition to you, or from passing laws that say criticizing you is punishable by death? Why should the people trust you to do the right thing when it doesn’t appear that anyone could stand up to you if you chose to cross the line?”</p><p>There was dead silence reigning. Nobody said a word. They slowly turned to look at the reporter, then at Furiosa and Raize. The two women stared back at the Trandoshan, looking faintly as though they’d been whacked in the face.  </p><p>“Look dipshit, you got a real shallow view of “the line” if you ask me, a real shallow way of thinking indeed. I don’t care about “looking like the good guy” to sheltered people. Grow up.” Raize remarked.</p><p>“You didn’t actually answer my question.” The reporter said. “What’s to stop you from doing any of the stuff I just mentioned?”<br/>
<br/>
“Next question? Any other questions?” Furiosa inquired, ignoring him. But none of the other reporters said anything, all of them were beginning to look uncomfortable as Furiosa gave the reporter an irritated look. “What is WITH you? You don’t care about the people of Nar Shadaa? You only care about the stupid assholes from the Galactic Republic being kicked out, is that it? The only reason they got their position is because they’re from wealthy families. Why do you only care about rich people? What about the common man that deserves to have a say in how things are run, the people who actually live here, are FROM here, having a say?”<br/>
<br/>
“But you weren’t even born here. You’ve said as much.” The reporter remarked, looking stunned. “And YOU’RE both rich. What are you talking about?”<br/>
<br/>
“That’ll be all for today. Thank you for coming.” Furiosa said as Raize gave the reporter a very dirty look, the Trandoshan blinking back at her as they walked off. </p><p>Slowly but surely, things began to change. Very wealthy people on Nar Shadaa who hadn’t pledged loyalty to the Hutts or to the Dyad began to die. A very mysterious string of suicides. All of them conveniently leaping out the windows, them AND their families to boot. And then, there’d been the incident on Coruscant. As Nar Shadaa’s representatives to the Senate now, they’d been invited to join in on sessions there when it came to passing galactic law. At first, people found it slightly odd…they dressed rather darkly, they were clear Force users, but nobody objected openly to the two, or really cared that they were often more busy making out in their senate seats, or whispering amongst each other, or reading books rather than listening to other Congressmen and women. </p><p>But then IT happened. Raize had been complaining about the influence of the rich on Coruscant. “It’s disgusting, really. It’s almost like they’ve bought the police and treat them as their own private security force. Look at how much money they give to the police authorities here,  it’s blatant what they’re doing, buying preferential treatment!” She’d been telling a gaggle of reporters as Furiosa nodded.</p><p>“But you have your own enormous fleet YOU bought, and your own private army and everything, isn’t that hypocr-” One of the reporters began to say as Luke Skywalker, now in his thirties, took notice of a guard who was angrily accosting a small group of twi’lek refugees who’d set up a tent.</p><p>“You can’t stay here, there’s strict regulations that say no domiciles are to be set up within one mile of the Galactic senate. Where are your papers? Show me your papers right now!” The guard demanded.</p><p>Furiosa frowned over at this. Luke was about to walk on over, he was taking a few steps towards the guard when Raize angrily grunted, and then the guard’s neck twisted, and he flopped down dead.</p><p>“Good lord!” The reporter who’d spoken up gasped as people shrieked, others staring on in horror at this cold-blooded murder.</p><p>“I’m surprised you didn’t torture him first.” Furiosa chuckled as Luke gaped in astonishment and shock and horror before he angrily turned, wheeling towards Raize.</p><p>“Raize, you shouldn’t have done that!”<br/>
<br/>
“What?! What was I supposed to do? Just let him harass that innocent refugee?!” Raize angrily inquired. “Maybe if your stupid planet didn’t have so lousy a system, this sort of thing wouldn’t happen!”<br/>
<br/>
“It’s not up to YOU to decide who lives and who dies!” Luke told her. “If you don’t like how something gets done, you change it from within. You force the system to be held to account, that’s how Democracy works.”<br/>
<br/>
“Your senate’s proof Democracy DOESN’T work, how well did they do in stopping Darth Vader from coming to power, or the Empire itself?” Furiosa snorted. “If you’ve got more power than the other side, that’s really all that matters. Laws mean nothing if they’re not good enough.”<br/>
<br/>
“You murdered that man. It doesn’t matter if you think it was justified, you murdered him, and you’re going to stand trial.” Luke told her.</p><p>“Yeah, good luck with all the paperwork arranging that. Furiosa and I are sick of this place. We’re not coming back. Bye bye.” She said with a sneer at Luke, she and Furiosa leaving the reporters behind as they shouted questions at the women’s backs, Luke shaking his head, going over to the refugees, trying to calm them down as they clung to each other in terror.</p><p>“Are you alright?”<br/>
<br/>
“Y-You’re not g-gonna snap our necks, are you?” The oldest of them asked.</p><p>“Why would I do…” Luke said at first. But then he trailed off, realizing why. No wonder they were so scared of Force users. People like them could do anything they felt like. It was probably terrifying to non-users to see the Force used like that, and so…casually. How many people probably walked on egghsells around Furiosa and Raize out of fear THEY’D get the same treatment? How many walked on eggshells around him out of the same type of fear?</p><p>“…why don’t I buy you all lunch?” He asked comfortingly. “And we can talk things over. And find you a better house than a tent in the street.” </p><p>Well, with that incident, Nar Shadaa was kicked off the Senate. Raize and Furiosa were condemned by the Galactic Republic, but they couldn’t openly make a move. The Dyad’s fleet was now positively enormous, and any attempt to bring them in to face justice would mean open warfare. People whispered on the streets of Nar Shadaa about the power of the planet’s new, de-facto rulers…the Dyad…</p><p>Darth Raize and Darth Furiosa. Who could possibly stand up to them?</p><p>Well…the only one who had come closest had now been found passed out in an alley, some random schmuck with a marginal grip on the Force whom Leia was helping into her and Han’s vehicle as they headed to the room they would be staying in. Kendall awoke, yawning a bit, then gasping in surprise. He was in the backseat with Leia as she smiled at him, whilst a very clearly infuriated, bound-tightly-by-electromagnetic-ropes 8t88 the robot sat next to her. On top of that, his head was in his lap. He was still conscious, clearly, they’d removed the head but had ensured he didn’t shut off to make it clear he wasn’t going to try anything funny, but it was quite an odd sight.</p><p>“Whatever were you doing in that alleyway? You’re lucky I sensed you.” Leia told him as she looked him up and down. “Though I almost couldn’t, your grip on the Force is very…” She hesitated.</p><p>“I know, I know.” Kendall sighed as he covered his face with his hands, bending over a bit, groaning. “I’m not very good. What were you going to say? Minimal? Minor? Peripheral? <b>Insignificant</b>, maybe?”</p><p>“I would actually call it…sectional. Maybe…narrow.” Leia admitted. “All life has the faintest of connections to the force. Yours isn’t that faint compared to the average person in the street. It’s only a…small torch light compared to the larger flame that my own powers represent. It’d be like comparing a candle to a flashlight, then that flashlight to a flood light. It’s not bad, really, it just isn’t quite enough.” </p><p>“I figured that out quick.” Kendall muttered. “Still, I’m very glad to meet you. I recognize your faces, you’re Leia and Han. I’ve heard so much about you.” </p><p>“Once we get out of this car, we’ll need to change those faces.” Han held up a small pen-like thing. “This’ll cast a holographic image over us to change our looks. Nobody will know the difference.” He said with a grin. “They’re very handy. Perhaps we should make one for you.”<br/>
<br/>
“We actually saw your assault on the building. For a first time, and…for such a young Jedi, it wasn’t half bad.” Leia offered.</p><p>“I appreciate those kind words but…” Kendall trailed off. </p><p>“I don’t even need the Force to read your mind, I can tell you may be at your lowest point.” Leia spoke softly. “But we’re here to try and investigate what the Dyad is doing, and you can help us. And we can help you.” Leia added. “You have real potential. I’d be happy to try and bring it out.”</p><p>Kendall glanced back at her, biting his lip before he sat up. “You know what?…okay. I’m willing to try anything.” He said with a nod. “Teach me. Teach me in the ways of the Force.” </p><p>“The first thing you should know is the mantra.” Leia said with a smile. “There is no emotion, there is peace. There is no ignorance, there is knowledge. There is no passion, there is serenity. There is no chaos, there is harmony. There is no death, there is the Force.” </p><p>Kendall quietly blinked, looking at Leia, then he took out his lightsaber, staring at it. Those were nice words. There was a comfort to them. But at the same time, it reminded him of the type of dogma he’d had to recite in Church. He thought of what Leia had said, and a new code came to mind, the words springing from his lips as if they’d always been buried inside him. </p><p>“…Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge. Passion, yet serenity. Chaos, yet harmony. Death, yet the Force.” </p><p>Leia looked surprised. Her eyes went wide before she smiled softly. “Interesting. Do you come from any type of family with Force powers?”<br/>
<br/>
“I don’t know. But…” He trailed off. “…well, my Dad never told me who my mother was. He always said I was a gift from God. Well, I don’t <b>believe </b>in God, but I sure believe in the Force now. Maybe…maybe I was a gift somehow from the Force. If only I could talk to him again, make him…<em>wait</em>.”</p><p>His blue eyes went bulging wide. The legends about the Jedi…he’d heard whispers and possibilities. What if…?</p><p>“Is it true that the Jedi can talk to the dead?” Kendall asked, eyes wide, turning to Leia as she looked upon Kendall with clear pity in her eyes. “I heard how Jedi can…can become ghosts that linger on and talk to people, can…<em>can they talk to the dead?</em>” </p><p>Leia quietly sighed. It was good he wasn’t asking if they could <b>bring back</b> the dead. That was often a very common request but the path down that was often one leading to the Dark Side. This was more understandable. It was natural to want to just talk to the ones you love just one more time.</p><p>“Yes…we can. Death means becoming one with the Force. Most sentients lose their ability to speak to the living, but if you master certain techniques, you can…get around this.” Leia confessed quietly. “I’m able to talk to the Force, to hear what it says. I may be able to help you learn this technique, and perhaps, if you continue down this path, you’ll be able to reach out to your Father. If he was a Force sensitive, it’ll be far easier to speak to him.”  </p><p>For the first time in a long time, real, genuine hope swelled in Kendall’s frame. A gleaming, bright smile came to his features. “…thank you.” He whispered, taking Leia’s hand, bowing his hand. “Thank you, thank you, THANK you. You’ve no idea how much it means to me.”<br/>
<br/>
“Believe me. I do.” She murmured quietly. “I really, really do.”</p></div></div>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Choices of Nar Shadaa</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Han and Leia were, as it turned out, currently shacked up in a hotel five blocks away from the Dyad’s headquarters. With the holographic disguises they had, it was easy for them to get a room, especially because, in general, Nar Shadaa’s businessmen didn’t ask questions of those that solicited their services. Better for everyone that way. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Now they were in the soft-painted hotel room as Han sat on a chair, looking over a datapad as Leia sat on the bed with Kendall. Both of them were sitting with legs crossed, hands resting on their knees as Leia tried to impart some basic breathing techniques and meditation on to Kendall. Besides feeling calmer though, Kendall didn’t appear to be getting anything out of it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Be with me...be with me...be with me…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nothing. Absolutely nothing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Try...I am one with the Force, the Force is with me.” Leia offered gently. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kendall took in another deep breath, in, then breathing out. In, and out. “I am one with the Force, the Force is with me. I am one with the Force, the Force is with me. I am one with the Force, the Force is with me…” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She waited about five minutes, Han watching on as he raised an eyebrow slowly up. Truth be told, he sympathized with the lad. He wasn’t exactly a Force sensitive type either, the twenty-something before him was obviously barely connected to the Force and struggling to grab hold of something real. Han had been a bit saddened himself to know that he couldn’t really feel the Force the way Luke or Leia did, there were times when it would have been nice, to feel what they felt…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ohhh. Doesn’t look like its working.” Kendall sighed. “Let’s try and focus on the Dyad. What have you found out?” He wanted to know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“We’ve been going around to people across Nar Shadaa’s capital, but it’s difficult to get them to talk. People were loath to speak to us about the two when they were younger and more common sights on the streets of Nar Shadaa, but when they became Sith, few, if any, knew what they were doing behind the scenes. I doubt there’s anyone who knows as much about them though based on what we have learned...well, except themselves.” Leia confessed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Han held up the datapad, tapping on it, as a holographic display popped up from it, showing off what the contents were as Kendall looked at pictures of Furiosa and Raize. “The army is almost completely their own. There’s barely any remnants from the previous one, all of those were mostly older guard who just keep their heads down and don’t ask questions. The same goes for the planet’s fleet. Frankly, if you did ask questions or objected, unpleasant things tended to happen to them. People found their homes trashed, or their loved ones threatened, and in the worst cases, their bodies would get flung out of the top of the tower and they’d have to call in a cleanup crew. Always, of course, at a...less conspicuous time.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“The average person on Nar Shadaa barely trusts them. They were disappointed that the Republic didn’t do enough, so they put their trust in the populist promises of the Dyad, only to find that the Dyad were actively oppressive, as opposed to the indirectly oppressive and red-taped-up Republic.” Kendall grumbled. “Look, I’m glad the Republic is DOING something now, but if your government hadn’t wet the bed years back, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“It isn’t that easy.” Leia insisted. “The Republic has to oversee and care for literally hundreds of worlds. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to manage that? It’s hard enough for one country’s senate to agree on what has to be done, imagine that...but ten times worse for a senate overseeing almost a whole galaxy.” She told Kendall. “We have to make sure we absolutely get it right or the consequences turn out catastrophic. We can’t move too quickly or it’ll be a dumb, knee-jerk reaction that will only exacerbate the problem.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“But if you move too slow, the problem festers and then explodes.” Kendall reasoned. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look, the Republic should have done more, but it ain’t like this is totally their fault. The government represents you, buddy. How many Nar Shadaans actually vote?” Han asked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kendall blinked. “...I dunno, 40 percent? 50?” He asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Han smirked. “...26.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>Kendall gaped. “...NO WAY.” He murmured.</span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Until the election of the Dyad and the election after that, it was 26%.” Han laughed. “We checked. It went up to around 70 percent when the Dyad announced they wanted to be the representatives of Nar Shaddaa, and only dropped about 10 percent the next election. Only one other guy ran against them. He got DESTROYED.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I remember…” Kendall rubbed his chin. He remembered VERY well. Someone had swiped the letterhead of Candidate Kendee, a rather charming, though somewhat stupid, human candidate. The prankster had sent out invitations that promised “free beer, free food, girls, and a good time for all” to homeless shelters. He’d found a few sent to the very clinic he’d worked at, and these fake invitations had hurt Kendee in the polls.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kendee had managed to bounce back though, at the debates. You could only do one on one, so first Darth Raize had tried to take him down, but Kendee had actually outsmarted her. It had been shortly after Nar Shadaa had endured an attack from Mandalorian extremists who had not gotten the memo that the war was over and they’d lost. Darth Raize and Furiosa had said it was the Republic’s fault because it hadn’t been NAR SHADAA that had been keeping the Mandalorian people down on their planet, it was the Republic, and Nar Shadaa was just an easy target because it was closer to Mandalore than Coruscant was, and less well-protected. So they’d used the attack as an excuse to further increase their military power, AND they’d spent months and months railing at how the Republic poisoned everything it touched.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And so when the debate happened, Raize put a hand over her chest, speaking solemnly and calmly. “I would never want to commit troops to military action. I never dreamed I’d be doing such a thing. But the enemy attacked us, and I have a solemn duty to protect Nar Shadaa, to do ALL I can. That’s why I’ve committed more troops to bases on Nar Shadaa’s moons to act as a bulwark.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kendee saw an opening.</span>
  <span><br/>
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</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Mrs. Raize just said something frankly extraordinary.” He said in his response, his grey eyes looking right into her own. “And something very revealing. The enemy attacked us? The Republic didn’t attack us. Mandalorians attacked us, and even then, Mandalorian extremists, not the Mandalorian people. But I’ve read through all of your speeches in the past months since that attack happened, you mentioned the Republic and Coruscant 1214 times, you mentioned Mandalorians or Mandalore...102 times. You’ve spent more time attacking the Republic than actually attacking the people who blew up 4000 people three months ago.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He began to dissect her arguments, methodically and quickly, cutting into her like a knife. Raize looked stunned, her mouth slightly agape. When it was finally time for her to respond, she let out an irritated, peevish “First of all, I know Mandalorian extremists attacked us. I KNOW that!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It made her look bad. Really bad. It also didn’t help that in the next debate, Furiosa tried to connect with the audience by invoking her relationship with Raize, and how close they were. But this had been overplayed in the ads, the people of Nar Shadaa didn’t really find it adorable and cute anymore. It was just a normal relationship they’d seen again and again in the media, so what?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Perhaps they should have spent less money hyping up human interest stories about themselves, and more money devoted to basic needs like ensuring the staff who ran such stories at the media companies had their pensions. Kendee, meanwhile, touted his work as a judge. He’d served on the bench as a juvenile and family court judge, developing a strong interest in aiding abused children. He’d helped to start the “Nar Shadaa Trust Fund”, a private, nonprofit organization dedicated to providing money for kids who had nothing, along with being president of Nar Shadaa’s National Committee to Prevent Child Abuse and Neglect.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kendall had been impressed. He’d actually thought Kendee would be able to win by trumpeting his heroic work advocating on behalf of the powerless. In fact, some of his campaign commercials showed him at his volunteer work, including one showing him shaking and holding hands with children. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’s when the bad thought entered Kendall’s mind as he saw those images. “Wait. They WOULDN’T.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They would. They initiated a whisper campaign that Kendee was a pedophile. They would use the local universities and colleges of Nar Shadaa to disseminate whisper campaign information. The students would go to the classes, hear the info, then return home, and word would get out. That way the lie would come across as common knowledge. It didn’t help that Kendee could barely stomach such an assault. He wasn’t the sort of person where this was water off a duck’s back, he had his own family to think of, and the somewhat small, well-groomed family man had seen his poll numbers plummeting, and ultimately decided to drop out to spare his family more shame. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So the Dyad had taken his greatest strength, touching the lives of kids, and turned it against him, saying he was touching kids. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kendall knew about this because the clinic was a frequent stop not merely for the average worker on the street who couldn’t afford a better physician, but also for college students, and Kendall was a good listener to the patients. They’d found it surprisingly easy to get stuff off their chest, and to talk about things they’d heard whispered through the halls. Including the stuff about poor Candidate Kendee. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What we really need to do is to encourage more people to openly revolt and rebel against the Dyad.” Han said. “AND we need eyes and ears inside their building as well. If we ever want to break in, that’s what we need above all else, and luckily, we do have someone who can help with that.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“We’ve found several sympathetic electricians who specifically do work only for the tower. I was able to read their minds easily when Han and I were at a bar, they were practically screaming inside on how much they hated working for the two. Evidently they watched them force choke a captain of the guard for falling asleep at his post and they’d been terrified of their employers ever since.” Leia admitted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Well if you’re the sort of person who’ll casually kill your employees for minor offenses…” Kendall reasoned. “So they agreed to help?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“They set up a way for us to hack into the tower’s camera system. We can’t get into the security system, that’s too well protected at the moment, but its a start. The next task would be to try and approach their boots on the ground, to see if we can gain allies there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kendall cleared his throat. “Actually, I may be able to help with that.” He confessed. “Because a lot of protestors AND soldiers went to the clinic I worked at, and I know where they enjoyed going after. They’d invite me there for drinks and the like as thanks.” The logosian told Han and Leia. “I may be able to get some of them to open up.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Good idea. We’re going to go out and get some dinner, we’ll bring it back here. You’d best lay low. You’re still recovering...and you can practice your mantras.” Leia suggested as Kendall smiled slightly back, though inwardly, he groaned. As Han and Leia left the room, he flopped onto the nearby couch, covering his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He couldn’t connect to the Force through mantas. He couldn’t just reach out through the ether and touch it. None of those methods were working. But...he had faintly felt SOMETHING before. When he’d just openly tried to speak to it out loud. He had to try and approach the Force in a different way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So Kendall headed to the bathroom, closing the door, getting out his lightsaber as he held it up, focusing, taking in some deep breaths. “Okay. I’m listening. I know I’m not the best Force user this planet has. But I really want to try to talk to you. Tell me what I’m missing. Tell me how I can become better. I’ll try anything.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do or do not. There is no try.” Kendall turned, seeing Leia standing there in the bathroom doorway, chuckling a bit as Kendall sighed, hanging his head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I must look stupid.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“You don’t look stupid. You are simply not used to any of this, so you’re floundering and confused.” Leia told him. “Just think about exactly what you want, and open your mind to the possibility that it can happen.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kendall took in another deep breath. He tried to picture what the Force would look like if it could speak to him, but he kept seeing Leia over and over. Every time he tried to make a new face for the Force, it just became Leia. He couldn’t focus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Sorry, its just you over and over. I guess because you’re the Jedi here.” Kendall admitted as Leia walked back to the bed with him as he looked down at the lightsaber, turning it on as the red light hummed softly. “Sometimes though, I almost feel like the lightsaber talks to me.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
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  <span>“A Jedi weapon has its own connection to the Force.” Leia said softly. “Maybe that’s how you can connect better to it. This weapon is your first, your first step towards becoming a Force user, it unlocked the potential within. It has a power all its own. But above all, you must remember a lightsaber should always be used in defense, either of yourself, or others.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
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  <span>Kendall nodded. “You’re right, you’re right. But why can’t I “hear” the Force or “sense” it the way you can? The way the legends all say Jedi or Sith can? I can’t move rocks, I can’t get into people’s minds, normal Jedi and Sith can, why can’t I?”</span>
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  <span>“Everyone’s connection with the Force is different. All you need to do is find a way to make your connection work for you. But in truth, you don’t need to get into people’s minds. You have a way of getting into people’s hearts. It is your empathy and concern for others that is your greatest strength, and that, above all, is what makes a Jedi. Compassion.” Leia explained. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s a nice idea.” Kendall said with a small smile growing on his face. “That actually sounds really beautiful.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know you would like to speak to your Father. Maybe in time, as your connection grows, you’ll find the answers you desire.” Leia said. “But you must open the door and walk through it. Others won’t do it for you. They can only show you the right door, nothing more.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kendall suddenly felt something tingle his spine, and he sat up, blinking slowly before his blue, deep eyes gazed at Leia.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not speaking to Leia, am I?” He inquired.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Leia” smiled. “No. No you are not.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“...is this form you’re taking...so I’m more comfortable with you?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“You’re only able to comprehend me as something you know. So...yes.” The Force told him. “Not everyone believes in me the same way. It is not such a difficult thing at all for me to take this form.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Are...are you actually God?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
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  <span>The Force chuckled. “You don’t really think I am, and I won’t tell you I am, Kendall. But I understand why you’d ask that, I am, after all, immensely powerful, and connected to all living things. Probably as close to God as you can believe in.”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Where did I come from? Could my Dad tell me? Was I...was I created by him? From you?”</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“We can’t really answer, Kendall. It isn’t our answer to give, it is his. And you aren’t ready to speak to him.” The Force admitted. “Your mind is reaching out to me. It wants to understand. Your goal is clear. But you can’t focus on your Father without immense pain and sorrow filling you. If you tried to speak to him as you are now, you wouldn’t see your Father. You’d see not even a pale imitation, not an echo. Just a twisted shard of what he was. You don’t want that.”</span>
  <span><br/>
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</span>
</p><p>
  <span>For the brief flicker of a moment, he was not looking at Leia, but at something horrifying, terrible and enormous that only wore his Father’s face like a cheap dollar store mask and Kendall shuddered, shaking his head back and forth. “I get it. I get it.”</span>
  <span></span><br/>
<span><br/>
</span>
  <span>“Perhaps, soon, you will be ready. But you must be at true peace. For now...help the people of Nar Shadaa. And discover the truth of what Furiosa and Raize have done. Doing this will benefit you as well, Kendall. You will find they’ve opened a door...a door your Father also opened.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And with that, it was gone, just as a knock came at the door. “We’re back. Hope you like noodles!” Han’s voice rang out from the other end as Kendall rose up to let them in. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’ve got a lot of work to do.” He told them as they all sat down to eat. “Hopefully I can reach some of the Dyad’s people. Maybe there’s others like those electricians that are scared off them too, and just looking for a chance to escape…” He mused aloud as he, Leia and Han began to heartily house down their noodles. Tomorrow would be a big day indeed...there was much to do, and so little time...</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. First, Do No Harm</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
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  <span>“IIIIII love you mooooore! Than I did the week beeeeefore! Since I discovered alcohol!”</span>
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<p>
  <span>Tom’s bar was positively filled to the brim with chattering and drinking and partying people, from left to right, top to bottom, the whole place was jumping as people sang loudly and proudly by the nearby karaoke machine. It displayed the lyrics to the songs in a holographic display as people clinked their glasses and their mugs, and smiled happily, but all the same, for many of them there was a…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Fakeness to it. A desperation. A NEED to be happy, to just drown out their current life in drink if only for a few hours so they’d feel somewhat better. You could see it in their eyes, you could see it in their smiles, and even the music they sang, in a way, contributed to this. After all, the overwhelming majority of the songs came in from the Dyad, who’d released them as singles for the people to consume. Even what they used to forget their crappy life...made them think about their crappy bosses. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Kendall couldn’t help but notice that one guy was looking pretty cheery though. Genuinely cheery. It was a Trandoshan, a reptilian monster with clawed hands, scaly skin, horned head, reddish eyes and thick-armored frame. His name was Grohtk, and Kendall had treated him for two years. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>As Han and Leia, disguised under their holograms, intermingled with the people, Kendall sat next to Grohtk. The music had now played to a metal song, “The Memory Remains”, as Kendall ordered a drink for the Trandoshan. </span>
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  <span>“I’ve not seen you in a while. I take it you’re not getting shot at as much?” He wanted to know.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Indeed, Grohtk was a very, very good security officer. But he had taken many a laser bolt blast for his clients, and sometimes his whole arms and legs had been blasted off, and Kendall had helped the good doctor put the limbs back on. Once, Kendall had even healed Grohtk’s eye when the doctor had been out. It had been an INCREDIBLY delicate procedure, Kendall had had to be super careful he pulled the chunk of knife out just right or the eye would have been damaged permanently, but Kendall had hands that were steady and swift. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I’ve gotten a job at the “penthouse” suites up at the Dyad’s tower.” He admitted in his growly voice to the Logosian. “I enjoy it...for the most part. They scare me, a TON, but...it pays well. Real well. Especially for me and my dad. I’m even going back on the dating scene.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Kendall smiled, patting Grohtk’s shoulder as the Trandoshan grinned. “Heck, if you’ve got nothing you’re doing tonight, maybe…?” He asked.</span>
</p>
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  <span>“Sure, I’ll give you a call later. I’m game if you are.” Kendall told him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He and Grohtk shared something in common. Both of them were from races who did NOT treat gay people well. Or bisexual people well. Really, anyone who wasn’t straight was looked up with scowls. For both, it was a matter of faith. For the Trandoshan, the goal was to adhere to the teachings of the Scorekeeper, who asked for them to track down and hunt particularly worthy prey. The current interpretation of the teachings was very conservative, stating that focus on such things took away from the hunt. Really, sex itself was almost demonized, and was barely tolerated in the name of propagating the race and, thus, the hunt…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Though plenty of the Trandoshan felt this was a stupid way to look at the teachings. Perhaps, soon enough, things would change. The grumblings on the home planet were getting louder.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>For the Logosian people, it was their tight adherence to their holy book and to the teachings of the exceptionally beautiful prophet known as Ethos. Ethos had had long flowing hair like the river running down his back, and his heart had glowed like the sun, especially when he was laying hands on the sick and the dying to heal them. The teachings had told the Logosian people to love the family above all else. Well, since “family” had meant a mother, father and child, it hadn’t been hard for anti-straight relationships to be demonized by them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t perhaps FAIR to blame people like the Scorekeeper or God or Ethos. After all, people interpreted even basic things stupidly every day. But Kendall could no longer look at Ethos with his leafy Crown of Morality, and the soft white robes he’d worn, and that smile and...and, well, not see a representative of everything he despised. The same way Grohtk could no longer really look at his own kind and not see everything HE hated. He’d been relentlessly hounded and teased and mistreated by his species for years. Only amongst the aliens, the “other”, did he feel happy. Well...there was also his Dad.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sometimes Kendall wished he’d had Grohtk and Thwurl’s relationship, the two really clearly loved each other. His own father…</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>No matter how kindly he’d been, and how much he’d tried, he couldn’t truly remember his Dad genuinely smiling. Truly, utterly happy. Grohtk and his father, they always seemed to be.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“How come the Dyad scare you?”</span>
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  <span>“Well...okay, look…” Grohtk hesitated. “Promise you’ll keep this quiet. But when one of the guards brought up the incident that got Darth Furiosa’s grandmother killed, she shocked him so hard he was almost electrocuted to death.”</span>
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  <span>“What did he say?” </span>
</p>
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  <span>“Well, after Darth Furiosa brought up how her mother had died, fallen to her death during the fight, and everyone had been all quiet and nervous and unsure what to say, well...one of the guards said “I guess Mr. Solo should have given your grandma a “head’s up”. The guy always was making bad jokes and they never minded it before, but when he told THIS one, she immediately electrocuted him. He almost died.”</span>
</p>
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  <span>“Damn…” Kendall cringed. “I get it was insensitive to say but you don’t almost kill someone over that.” He mumbled. “They should be able to control their temper! That’s disgusting. You FIRE someone for stuff like that, or dock their pay or something, you don’t FRY THEM WITH A LIGHTNING BOLT!”</span>
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  <span>“And yet they get away with it because of who they are.” Grohtk muttered. </span>
</p>
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  <span>“Ah, to be rich and powerful.” Kendall sighed as Han and Leia walked over.</span>
</p>
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  <span>“We actually got them to talk a bit. They want to come over for drinks.” Leia admitted as she looked at Kendall. “They also seem to like you a lot. You’ve treated so many of them for wounds. I’m surprised.”</span>
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  <span>“Our clinic was really close to where they worked, and we’re free. So...we got a lot of business.” Kendall confessed with a grin. </span>
</p>
<p>
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  <span>“How come you never became a doctor?” Han wanted to know, looking interested. “You seem smart enough.”</span>
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  <span>Kendall hesitated. “I...I choke up all the time when it comes to actually remembering the terminology you need to pass the license to become a doctor.” He muttered as the other workers walked over to sit down by him. “Thing is, I’m good at recognizing obvious wounds and treating them. I know all the basics easily. I can fix them super quick and do it really well, but anything more complex is...a crapshoot for me. Sometimes I’ll remember, most of the time, I don’t. I mean...I mixed up a trytophatic nerve with a angliatic point.” He groaned as he hung his head. “Three times. And it’d be like mixing up your arm with your leg. I mean...yeah! They’re both limbs, but that’s about it! No real doctor should make mix-ups like that, you did that, you’d kill your patient.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, you’re the best nurse WE had.” One of the workers said. “And you didn’t treat us differently because we were soldiers for the Dyad.” He added as the others nodded. “We get a lot of side eye and worse because we work for them, it was nice to just go somewhere where there was no judgment.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Kendall looked up at them and smiled a bit. “Well...I’m a nurse. If someone’s hurt, I try to help them. I always thought it was that simple.” He admitted. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“They actually agreed to do us a favor if we’d do THEM a favor.” Leia admitted. “They’re going to give us access to the camera system in the building that analyzes and records everything inside. We’ll be able to spy on the Dyad whenever we want. But they DO want us to break up a protest going on at the docks.”</span>
  <span>
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  <span>“We’d go but...well…” The guards standing by their fellow Dyad workers gulped a bit nervously. “They uh...the protestors kinda...outnumber us this time.” He muttered. “And we just had to shoo protestors away from the docks yesterday and they threw bricks and stuff at us.”</span>
  <span>
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  </span>
  <span>
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  <span>“We’re really, really getting sick of them always screaming at us and tossing things at us.” Another guard admitted. “It isn’t like we can just take another job. Nobody else would hire us. The Dyad paid us really good wages for people like us, we barely completed our college education and nobody wanted to hire us because our degrees don’t mean squat on Nar Shadaa. It was either work for them or be janitors somewhere or be on the streets.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It couldn’t have been THAT bad, what were your degrees?” Han asked. “Art?”</span>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
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  <span>“Yeah, man. ART.” Said the guard from before as Han looked stunned. “You think Nar Shadaa gives a s--t about analyzing interior design and comparing the different pillar structure types of the ancient sith? Only the rich assholes care about that stuff because they BUY the art. But they weren’t going to have some kids out of college working for them, they’d fly in professional art critics with snooty monocles and stuff who did their stints on Coruscant. And we didn’t wanna work for the Hutts anyway, we heard they occasionally ATE people who pissed them off! Gross, man!”</span>
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  <span>All of them nodded, several workers nearby enthusiastically saw. “Yeah, I SAW them do it. Twice.” One of them confessed. “I used to do electrician work for them before I switched to the Dyad, I thought a couple of lesbian Sith would be WAY less scary to work for. I was barely right.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“SHHHH.” One of his friends shoved a hand over his mouth. “Be careful about what you say. Even mentioning that they scare you can get you in trouble.” He whispered. “We’ve ALL got to be more cautious, we dunno who’d be listening.”</span>
  <span>
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  <span>
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  <span>“I wish I could say far worse about them.” The guard who’d spoken before muttered. “But they’ve done some sick things to people who insult them to their faces.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Like what?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The guard hesitated. He seemed to be chewing on the words, but then he explained. It had been the day of new hires. The Dyad had been speaking to all of the new guards they’d brought in and were doing some additional background checks by asking some personal questions. Like, for example, would they be comfortable working for two Lesbians. Luckily, all of the guards didn’t seem to mind. But unfortunately, the man who’d brought in the new hires on his ship was getting impatient.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
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  <span>“Can we hurry this up? I got other places to visit. The Hutts want me to bring in some off-worlders for security. And hopefully they won’t smell as bad as this batch.” The Rodian remarked as Darth Furiosa looked at him, Darth Raize raising an eyebrow. She was sensing something from him, and her eyes narrowed slightly before she spoke in a calm, cool voice.</span>
</p>
<p>
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  <span>“Are you not comfortable with lesbians yourself, sir?”</span>
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  <span>“...I don’t really see how that’s relevant.” He remarked stonily as Raize nonchalantly walked over to Furiosa, and sloooooowly put her arm around her beloved.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh, well that’s good. You know, my wife and I were just discussing our planned vacation to this charming island planet. Long, lush beaches, soft wind, the rolling waves. We’ll just eat barbeque on the beach...play some volleyball, and ah...well...take nice, long swims.” She intoned in a husky tone as the Rodian visibly flinched.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
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  <span>“...can you please keep the...sex stuff to yourselves?”  He asked. “It’s creepy hearing you humans talk about it openly. YECCH.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
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  <span>“Ohhh, so it’s not us being LESBIANS that’s really what turns you off, it’s us being humans, is that it?” Raize asked as the Rodian frowned. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“You humans act like you’re so much better than 90 percent of the species here on Nar Shadaa, so forgive me if I think that, though well behaved, you’re at best all monkeys shaved.” The Rodian captain of the taxi ship the new hires had arrived in intoned. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>SCHWISH! </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Something red flashed through the air and the man’s head plopped down. Several of the guards screamed in horror as Furiosa lowered her lightsaber, and Raize turned to the other guards. “Just so there’s absolutely no mistaking this, let us make something very clear. If you’re really concerned that we may, perhaps, be making a mistake in how we handle our security, by all means, you’re welcome to let us know. We’re not going to punish you for little mistakes. Nothing will be off limits. Except the kind of bigotry on display moments ago, either towards ANY species, or ANY sexuality. Because the price of doing that…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She lifted up the Rodian’s severed head, and shook it in front of them all. “Is that we will use your skull for a DECORATIVE BIRDHOUSE. So if any of you have any niggling little biases you’ve been keeping from us that you want to get out of your system, either do it now and then leave, or we collect. your. fucking. head. WELL?!” She roared out, her eyes flashing like lightning as the new hires all gulped. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Then somebody spoke up.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Uh...is...being afraid of Hutts...does that count? I’ve never liked them because my dad owed a bunch of money to them and they decided they’d make him pay it off by eating him and my mom in front of me, then saddling ME with the remaining debt.”</span>
  <span>
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  <span>
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  <span>“...you know what, that one’s fair.” Furiosa confessed. “You can stay.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Han and Leia’s mouth hung open. Kendall flinched. “I can actually testify to the...behavior...of some of the Hutts. We once had a Hutt come in. An off-worlder who thought he could get in on the action. He failed miserably, got beaten very badly in a fight, and he oozed his way to our free clinic. We did our best, but...well, we couldn’t save him. When we did the autopsy, we opened his stomach and...well, we...we found half-digested guards inside. So evidently they really AREN’T above eating people in a pinch if they’re super mad or desperate.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Leia shuddered and shook, shaking her head back and forth. She looked positively horrified, and Han had to give her a deep, passionate hug. “Hey. Hey, it’s okay. I’m here. I’m here. I’m here.” He spoke lovingly as Kendall looked at the two. He had a feeling that Leia was suffering from some sort of PTSD herself that pertained to Hutts, but he thought it best not to ask. She didn’t look well at all. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Let’s just get the business at the dock over with.” Kendall sighed as he put his hands in his pockets after lifting the hood to his blue, slightly puffy jacket up over his head. He and Han and Leia shook hands with the patrons they’d been speaking to, and then made their way back out, heading for the docks.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Sure enough, it was a most unpleasant scene. A VERY clearly outnumbered small security force was trying to guard several of the Dyad’s ships, but a large crowd of angry, righteously furious protesters were  holding signs up. Some of them were normal, written down on big thick white paper in large letters. Others were holo-signs, held up on pen-like emitters. A few were tossing tomatoes and other types of fruit at the security force, and many were chanting.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
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  <span>“Hey Ho! Dyad’s Got to Go! Hey Ho! Dyad’s Got to Go!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“The Dyad are Shit! Trash their ship! The Dyad are shit! Trash their ship!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“Our taxes pay your salary! Our taxes pay your salary!” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>And a few others were singing, pushing up against the security officers. Loud cries of “Move, bitch, get out the way, get out the way, bitch, get out the way” echoed through the air as Kendall dryly chuckled at how the security force was trying...and failing...to look stoic. They were getting more and more antsy, a few of their legs were jiggling, some of them were casting furtive, slightly worried glances at one another.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
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  <span>“I’m surprised the Dyad didn’t just get a bunch or robots to do this for them.” Han admitted as they approached the crowd of protesters.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
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  </span>
  <span>“That’s one of the ONLY things we’re really glad they didn’t do.” One of the protesters said, the twi’lek shaking her head. “They try to hire local all the time to boost the economy and give the average person a job, and they didn’t replace people with machines either. We used to appreciate that, sure. But now we see it as a double-edged sword. If it’s our friends and neighbors hired as their goons, WE’RE less likely to get really wild with them the way we would with a robot.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Let us by! The Dyad have been bossing us around long enough! Its time we sent a message!” Said one protester, who finally decided that tossing crumpled up paper, or fruit, or vegetables wasn’t enough. He shoved one of the security guards. The guard decided this was enough. She slammed her baton into the guy’s stomach, knocking him back. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
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  </span>
  <span>“That’s it, get them!” She yelled out as the security force raced forward. The protesters were caught off guard, it was turning into a madhouse. Leia and Han and Kendall tried to help the protesters, to tug them away from sweeping batons and electro-stun staffs, Kendall yelling for everyone to please, try to calm down! </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It wasn’t working. It was turning into chaos. People were yelling angrily, attacking the guards, who were beginning to get overwhelmed. They punched, they kicked, they even tried biting a few times. Loud THWAK-THWAK and crunches and cries of pain were echoing through the air, but then there came a very loud, horrible, wet noise. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That horrifying wet noise stopped everyone else in their tracks. They all turned to see what had happened and they saw that one of the security guards had gotten their electro staff stripped from them, and one of the protesters had struck them so hard...they’d cracked their helmet...and their skull open. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>People reeled back as Kendall raced over, carefully removing the the helmet as he looked down at the guard. He’d been hurt badly, the unfortunate human guard had cracked his head badly. Kendall could see the BONE. “Oh no, no, no, no.” Kendall’s eyes went wide. “I need a towel or...or something soft! Somebody?!” He cried out. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Everyone looked around. But nobody moved forward, out of a mixture of shock, of fear...and in some cases, a sense of “let the pig die”. Kendall frowned furiously at the faces who looked down at the security guard with disdain, spitting on the ground as he ripped his jacket off, and got his undershirt off. “You’re PATHETIC!” He snapped as he wrapped it around the man’s head “Get the FUCK out of here if you’re not going to help!” He roared. “I’m a registered nurse, so get out of the way, and let me do my job!”  </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>People stepped back as Kendall looked at the man’s eyes. “His pupils are dilating. He’s sweating heavily, his breathing is getting more difficult. I need to get him to a proper place to treat him. Does anyone have any Bacta or Kolto or any medical packs?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Leia, luckily, stepped forward. She pulled out a small medical kit, kneeling down as she administered the liquid within the pack to the man’s lips. He was barely breathing, he struggled to gulp it down as Kendall examined the wound. The med-kit liquid was working, the man was stabilizing, but barely. “I need to stitch his head up.” He murmured as he tried to lift the security guard up into his arms and then turned to the other security guards. “I can’t carry him alone!” He insisted. “Help me get the armor off at least!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The guards glanced at each other, then began to help get the armor off. Soon, at last, the poor man was almost utterly naked, but easier to carry as Kendall helped carry him off to Leia and Han’s vehicle. The guards glanced at the protesters, then quietly, somberly, stepped away from the Dyad’s ships. The protesters looked at each other, and then moved quietly to the ship, and began to push it over silently, saying nothing as they did so. It finally flopped over, onto its side, with a loud THRAKKA-THA-SCHOOOOM. Now the ship finally laid on its side, some windows blown out as the protesters stared at the thing. It laid on the floor of the docking bay like a dead beast, and they began to quietly head out, each returning to their homes. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Okay, keep the vehicle steady.” Kendall said as Han and Leia drove back to their hotel. “We need to get him more proper medicine. I’ll have to check the wound to see if any parts of the weapon got stuck inside him like shrapnel.” He told the two. “...I don’t suppose...Leia, could you, like...force heal him?”</span>
  <span>
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  <span>
    <br/>
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  <span>“Unfortunately, I don’t know that skill.” She confessed. “Jedi do heal naturally faster than most, and we can heal ourselves fairly easily but when it comes to other people, that’s a bit harder. I don’t know that technique yet.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
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  <span>“Damn.” Kendall hesitated. “Well, then I’ll just have to examine the wound and hope basic bacta will be enough. I’ve never treated a head wound as badly as this. In THEORY the bacta should do it. But...well, what works in theory and abstract isn’t the same as what actually works in real life.” He muttered. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>
    <br/>
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  <span>“Hey. It’ll happen, kid.” Han said gently, looking up in the mirror. “...you’re gonna do fine.” He told Kendall, who tried to smile back, though he could barely return the smile. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Who Mourns for Valentino?</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    
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      <em>“6:45 express pulling into the station. You’re always on time!” </em>
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    <p>
      <em>Darth Raize smiled as she shook the poofy-but-grey-haired human’s hand. People on Nar Shadaa got their news primarily from fancy news stations that gave the major stories of the day via tele-vid stories. But those dealt with the major news of the day. When it came to more local stories, to the various boroughs of Nar Shadaa, there were smaller stations giving out newspads. You could get one for every single borough...along with a nice meal or snack or drink if you had the right station. </em>
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      <em>And Darth Raize always came to the right fleet station. The high-powered hovertrains could get anywhere in the city within a matter of just a few minutes, faster than any hover vehicle. But you did have to put up with lots and lots of people crowded about, it could get ugly...it could SMELL ugly too. But Raize put up with it because at the end of her trip, after going out for an early morning run, she’d always return to the closest station to her and Furiosa’s home…</em>
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      <em>She’d return to Valentino. </em>
    </p>
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    <p>
      <em>“Here.” He held up the datapad for her as the snow came down heavy and hard around her. “I made sure the datapads on the West Burough were EXTRA warm, right by the heater. And when I picked them up from the local distributor, I stuffed them under my coat to make them warm.” “You’re good to me, Valentino.” Raize said softly as she smiled back at him. Valentino had a rather big nose, but an even bigger smile, and a beefy, though somewhat tubby, body. </em>
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  <div class="">
    <p>
      <em>“Hey, you and your girl cleaned up my neighborhood. Ain’t had a single mugging in three years since you came.” Valentino had insisted. “And you bring me cuisine!” </em>
    </p>
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      <em>“Salmon and capers quiche. You sure this is what you want?” She asked as she took out her little gift for the “newsstand man”. Valentino smiled as he took it.</em>
    </p>
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      <em>“Absolutely. My wife Hali will raise hell cuz it raises my cholesterol, but, ah! I will die a happy and fat man.” He chortled. “Wish your daughter Nora luck on her finals for me. I can hardly believe she’s in her third year already.”</em>
    </p>
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    <p>
      <em>Valentino chuckled as he put the quiche away behind his countertop, the snow continuing to fall around him and his stand, and flopping onto Raize’s shoulders, even in her hooded robes. “Ah, the time flies so quickly when its not standing still. Oh, and uh, speaking of flying, I heard about that attempted attack on your tower from that ship. I can’t believe someone had the guts to try that!” He admitted. </em>
    </p>
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      <em>“Yeah, I know, it’s pretty shocking.” Raize admitted. “But we handled it alright.” </em>
    </p>
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      <em>Every day, she’d get a chance to talk to him. And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy it. </em>
    </p>
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  <div class="">
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      <em>“So this big monster, from what I heard, he smashed right through the building? How did you subdue it?” </em>
    </p>
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      <em>“Oh, we had to use both of our Jedi mind trick gifts. It wasn’t too difficult, the thing had a brain the size of a cannoli. I’m sorry I couldn’t be here yesterday. Furiosa had a touch of the flu, and I had to be there. She gave me the usual insistence. “My head hurts...my tummy hurts...my itty bitty widdle pinkies hurt”. And I just melted. I couldn’t go do patrols or go out on the town when she’s like that.” </em>
    </p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>
      <em>“Ahh, she needs more VITAMINS. You know, my wife could prescribe some, she IS a doctor…”</em>
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      <em>Valentino was a regular presence in her life. And a beloved one.</em>
    </p>
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      <em>“They said the moon almost got blown up when the Mandalorians attacked! Can you believe we fought them off!?” “I know, I know, sometimes I don’t even believe we did it ourselves, it was touch and go. But you know, I want to do something nice for your news stand. You provide a great service to the neighborhood, and I thought you could use a hand rebuilding it, it’s gotten pretty beat up over the past couple of years.” </em>
    </p>
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      <em>Valentino was just always there. Always reliable. A constant. And people need constants in their life. </em>
    </p>
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      <em>“A child is a blessing, I tell you. Nora’s gonna be a mommy, can you believe it! I’M gonna be a grandpa! I hope one day you get blessed yourself. Maybe adopting?” </em>
    </p>
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  <div class="">
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      <em>“Oh, we’ve thought about it, honestly. It’s a great joy, I’ve heard.” “GREATEST joy, and greatest pain.” </em>
    </p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>
      <em>Then one day she’d noticed something.</em>
    </p>
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      <em>“You sure you don’t want some? I can pick out the broccoli if you’d like.” “You’re a very good woman, Ms. Raize. No thank you. Gotta get to work. Don’t want a pink slip for the new year, y’know?” “Okay. But...are you alright? You look...troubled.” </em>
    </p>
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  <div class="">
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      <em>“...I’m fine, really, Ms. Raize. I’m fine.” </em>
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  <div class="">
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      <em>And then, the next day...he wasn’t there. And the day after that. And the day after THAT. And then…</em>
    </p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>“Excuse me, where’s Mr. Valentino?” “Who?” </p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>She put her hands on her hips as she looked at the men who were packing up the news stand, breaking it down, moving it out of the way so that something else, most likely a dumpster, could be put there. The construction workers stared at her. </p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>“The man who works here. Poofy hair, also grey, big nose, he’s got slightly tanned skin and he’s usually wearing big, thick brown jackets?” “Dunno. He doesn’t work here anymore. His boss contacted our bosses and just told us that he wasn’t here anymore, and if he’s not here managing the thing, it can’t stay here. So they’re packing it up, and deciding if they want to put the thing elsewhere or not.” The lead construction worker said with a shrug, the wolf-esque alien shrugging as he adjusted the cap he wore. “Dunno where he went, Ms. Raize. Not a clue.” </p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>Furiosa was soon gently patting Raize on the back as the two sat in their penthouse on the couch, Raize slightly kneading over her hands.</p>
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    <p>“People leave, peanut. It happens. Especially in a big place like Nar Shadaa. There’s always bit players that zip in and out of your life. Some to poke you in the eye and wreck your week and others that are sweeth breaths of fresh air when the city seems to ugly to bear, and then...well, they go!” Furiosa reasoned. “Even endearing little Alderaanean refugees with cute wives and even cuter daughters.” “I don’t know his last name. I don’t even know where he lived. And I wouldn’t even say we were friends necessarily but...he always always there and now he’s NOT…” Raize muttered as she jiggled her leg nervously. “...I want to try and find him.” </p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>“You couldn’t get anything out of his mind when you tried to read him?” “Nothing, it was all super cloudy. I’m usually very good with being able to tell what’s on someone’s mind thanks to the Force. But there are people who are resistant to it and who don’t even know it. And then there’s people who are immune to it completely.” </p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>“We HAVE resources. Let’s get a bounty hunter to track him down.” Furiosa offered warmly. “I know just the guy. He comes highly recommended and he has a unique ability that could come in handy. And he has a lot of contacts in the criminal wing of Nar Shadaa that could prove helpful too.”</p>
  </div>
  <div class="">
    <p>“Who?”</p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>So it was that a very distinct figure was now interviewing MRS. Valentino. Or rather,  Hali T. Savarr, the wife of Valeninto Savarr, and mother of Nora Savarr. She had lovely locks of hair indeed, sweeping around her face as her daughter held her hand. Both had soft skin, and quiet voices, with cute freckles on their faces as the bounty hunter looked them over, his four-digited paws taking down notes on a notepad he’d brought.</p>
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    <p>The bounty hunter had a red bandanna that covered the top of his head, it rather resembled an old-fashioned “pirate’s cap” in how it looked. He had yellow eyes, with slightly darker yellow pupils, a diamond-shaped nose with a pink peace symbol necklace hanging down over his sleeveless white t-shirt. He wore red shorts that had white jagged ends at the bottom and a “Wave” of white flowing at the top, a belt of black with a green sonic pattern running through it, and his paws had gems embedded through them, green and glittering, encased in a black circular frame. It was as if someone had punched a hole right through and stuffed the gems in. He had sharp-looking fangs in his mouth, and his feet were balled, as if he could rollerblade around, and though he spoke in a faintly surfer-boy twang…</p>
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    <p>His eyes indicated he was taking all of this dead serious.</p>
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    <p>“So he missed your birthday.” He murmured. “And ain’t what your dad does. At all.” He offered quietly.</p>
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    <p>“No. It isn’t.” Valentino’s daughter admitted. “They were very appreciative, you know. The local police. We waited 24 hours before we called. They asked all the right questions. He had no enemies. Very few friends. No plans to travel. No drugs. No drinking. No vices of any sort. And there was no sign of a struggle and nothing stolen. Then they left, and that was three weeks ago.” </p>
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    <p>“I’m certain he’s dead.” His wife murmured. “We just want to bury him. My darling Valentine would never miss our daughter’s birthday. Not ever.”</p>
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    <p>Frequency reached out, and softly held the women’s hands in his paw. “...I’m gonna do everything I can. You don’t gotta worry about paying me. A REAL good friend is looking into this, okay?”</p>
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    <p>Unbeknownst to Frequency OR to the Dyad, Kendall was also going to find himself involved in the case, because he happened to end up in the same bar that Frequency would end up in the very next night. Kendall was currently tending to the VERY beaten up bar patrons after a particularly horrible bar fight that had broken out only half an hour ago. The red-haired Logosian sighed, shaking his head back and forth as he leaned down and used a pair of tweezers, caaaaarefully extracting some splinters from a...very personal area.</p>
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    <p>“My, oh my, you’re lucky there was literally a doctor in the house. Or rather, a trained nurse.” Kendall confessed as he got to work on removing the splinters from the unfortunate Rodian, who whimpered pitifully as the woman who’d struck him “harrumphed”, looking away. Other bar patrons were nursing their own wounds, Kendall having helped to patch them up as he kept plucking the splinters out. “Just hold still, alright?” “Thanks…” The Rodian muttered. He had various cheek studs in his cheek and he cringed, one eye puffy and swollen as Kendall sighed. He recognized the Rodian, it was the same one who’d come in on the day he’d met Darth Raize. “I appreciate this again, you’re a real swell guy. Especially for a Logosian, they ain’t nice at all to folks like me. You ever in the neighborhood and want a favor, ask me.” </p>
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    <p>Kendall nodded, then looked up at the Twi’lek woman.  “Did you happen to see who started the bar fight?” He asked her, the woman having a bad split lip as she pressed an ice pack to it, and a nasty, awful cut across her right arm that he’d applied gauze to. </p>
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    <p>“No...I just remember getting a chair to my arm and the wood flying so I lashed out with a chunk of wood I grabbed off the floor.” She muttered. </p>
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    <p>“Listen-EEEEGH. T-thanks for...for patching me...patching me up. Seriously. I’m REAL grateful. And again, here’s my card. You ever wanna favor…” The Rodian handed his card to Kendall as Kendall took it, smiling. Frequency took notice of the Rodian walking off towards his very heavily-armored hovercar that had just parked outside the bar...and which had several tough-looking guards inside. </p>
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    <p>SNIVVIANS. Mammalian species, protruding jaws, short fangs, thick skin, large snout, big black eyes. And Snivvians were immune to Force influence. You couldn’t influence their minds at ALL, and these looked to be heavily armored types at that. And Frequency wanted to try and avoid making enemies, so an outright assault would be a bad idea. “Crap. How am I gonna chat that Rodian up now?” He wondered aloud. “Major uncool!” </p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>WHY did he want to talk to that Rodian? Well, Frequency had checked around Valentino’s apartment, and he’d noticed a very faint crack in the ceiling tiles where he lived, right above his bed. Sure enough, inspecting it had revealed...a betting book. Valentino had begun placing bets on races for about three months, EXACTLY when his daughter had been having trouble with paying for medical school. He hadn’t wanted her to drop out, especially not when she was in the middle of finals week!</p>
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    <p>The question now became “where did he place those bets and with who”? Well, Frequency had made some calls. As a bounty hunter, he did have contacts, but alas, none of them were involved in the racing game. But they knew someone who was, and that was that Rodian, named Karry. </p>
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    <p>But Frequency couldn’t approach Karry directly, clearly. Not just because he wouldn’t be able to convince Karry to talk with a bit of...psychic persuasion from one of Frequency’s special tools, but because Frequency had promised to avoid killing or fighting people on a job whenever he could help it. And the Rodian’s guards were NOT going to let some rando speak to their boss. That much was clear. Frequency did TRY to just outright approach Karry at his workshop just in case, going to a place in the seedier districts of the capital, but the guards had turned him away, told him to get lost if he wasn’t interested in making a bet, and at the mere NOTION that they could be BRIBED to let him speak to their boss, they’d gotten out their guns and told him to scram.</p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>Well, if HE couldn’t speak to him…</p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>Perhaps that Logosian could. So Frequency was soon tailing Kendall, and followed him to the hotel room. He knocked on the door, Kendall calling out…</p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>“It’s open. Come in.”</p>
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    <p>Frequency was surprised, but he walked inside, surprised at how Kendall was currently using his legs to kick the shit out of a training dummy in the middle of the room. The same sort of swift, sweeping strikes, all while murmuring something under his breath...it was a chant, a chant about the Force.</p>
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    <p>“What’re you doing?” Frequency inquired.</p>
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    <p>“I could say the same about you, I noticed you were tailing me.” Kendall said. “Emotion, yet peace. Ignorance, yet knowledge…”</p>
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    <p>“What’s with the...kicking and the chanting?” </p>
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    <p>“You don’t know about “repeating actions”?” Kendall asked as he finished kicking the training dummy, taking in some long, deep breaths before turning to Frequency. “It’s a set of pre-determined movements in order to maximize concentration. As the saying goes, repetition is the mother of learning and the father of action, which makes it the architect of accomplishment.” Kendall confessed. “It helps me focus, it builds up my lower body strength, and I’m able to really clear my mind. Mr. Solo actually taught me it, its something he picked up when he was young, it helped him with becoming a good shot...also, WOW, he kicks like a horse. Found that out the hard way when we did a training fight with no weapons.” Kendall confessed. “So...what can I help you with? Do you need a doctor on the sly, because I’m a head nurse,  not a doctor.”</p>
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    <p>“I can’t believe you SAW me. I’m getting sloppy here on Nar Shadaa. Bummer.” Frequency sighed. “Look, I...need a favor, but not a medical one. I know you know that Karry guy, that Rodian who’s a bookie boss for the illegal racing circuit. I wanna ask him some stuff about this guy I was hired to find.” Frequency admitted. “They won’t let ME talk to him, but they may let you, dude. So could ya do me a solid? I’ll owe ya.” </p>
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    <p>“Okay.” Kendall remarked, as he held out his hand, shaking Frequency’s paw. It rather felt like he was shaking hands with a big blue teddy bear. “I’ll be happy to help. Tell me what you’d like me to ask Mr. Karry.”</p>
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    <p>“It’s some stuff about this newsstand owner, Valentino, who went missing. I KNOW he was making bets with Karry. I want to find out on what, how much, that sort of thing. If Karry knows where he went, all the better…” “You’re a bounty hunter, so you know this could end real badly, right?” Kendall asked quietly. “I’ve learned a lot about people working in the free clinic. You may find out something about your lost newsstand owner you really wish you hadn’t. He may not be who you think he is.” “Don’t matter. Dude’s lost, and I got asked to find him.” Kendall was surprised at the earnestness in Frequency’s voice. Despite the rather ridiculous “Surfer Boy” accent, he was so...sincere. “Okay. Write down what you want me to ask.” Kendall said as he went over to the nearby desk, getting out a notepad. “And then you’d better leave before Han and Leia get back. We can talk about what you can do for me later. Sound fair?”</p>
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    <p>…</p>
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    <p>…</p>
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    <p>…</p>
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    <p>… “He went home.” “What?” </p>
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    <p>Kendall stared in confusion at Karry, sitting across from him in his office. </p>
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    <p>“He took me for a bundle too. Lucky duck. Hit the big one and took it all the way back to his home planet.” Karry explained with a shrug. “I’m not too surprised. Said he wanted to buy back his old family home after the bank there repossessed it.” </p>
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    <p>“Wait, that’s it? Just leaving his wife and pregnant daughter when she’s about to give him a grandchild?” Kendall was confused. He scratched his head, looking at Karry.</p>
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    <p>“He said it was embarrassing that they didn’t have a proper home and had to squeeze together into a tight apartment. Told me he was going to cash his winnings immediately and head off. That’s the last I saw of him.” Karry insisted. “When they get big winnings, they ALWAYS wanna go buy the biggest stuff they can think of.” </p>
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    <p>It sounded reasonable enough, but Kendall, having worked in a doctor’s office for years, had noticed that certain patients had...tells. Ways you could “tell” if they were nervous or lying or afraid. Jiggling legs, bumps popping up on certain parts of the skin, sometimes their faces would turn a different color, or their eyes would flicker off to the left hand side over and over. And for Rodians, it was the glistening of their eyes, as if their very eyeballs were submerged in water and ready to begin dripping onto the floor below. When they were nervous or afraid, you could see their big dark eyes looked glistening, as if wet, and Karry’s was super glistening indeed. </p>
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    <p>Kendall SO badly wished he could use the Force to make Karry speak, but...he couldn’t. So he thanked the Rodian and left, heading to an alleyway not far away as Frequency rested on the wall.</p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>“How do you bounty hunters do it?” He asked quietly. “Deal with the...the lies, the inhumanity, the open cruelty? The worst parts of people?”</p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>“Depends on the type of guy ya are. Me…” Frequency held up a pistol, spinning it around before he slunk it right back into its holster in a single smooth motion. “I have my ways. What about you?” Kendall bit his lip. He paced back and forth, thinking long and hard. Then he got an idea. </p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>“Karry doesn’t know I’ve got a lightsaber.” He remarked. “That I’m training as a Jedi. And the people in Nar Shadaa tend to be...well...they’re kind fo scared of Jedi AND Sith because of what the Dyad have done. Maybe…”</p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>Frequency grinned. “Want me to get you a nice outfit to look the part, bro?” </p>
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    <p>Indeed, that was the plan. The next day, Karry was speaking to a few clients in an alleyway, hand reaching out to collect their money as he grinned. “Always a pleasure doing business with-”</p>
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  <div class="">
    <p>Then they heard a familiar PSSSSHHH, and the sound of a lightsaber igniting. They looked behind Karry, gasping in horror. There stood someone with incredibly pale skin, veins slightly popping up on his face, red, unnatural-looking eyes, eyes with faintly sunken-in, blackened sockets that looked as though soot had collected around them. His lips were cracked and pale too, with veins seeping over them, and his head was covered in a dark helm that covered up his hair, the same helm covering most of his face, save for his eyes and mouth. </p>
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    <p>“Hello, gentlemen. The Dyad hopes you’re all being...good, law-abiding citizens?” Kendall inquired. </p>
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    <p>They all screamed, racing off, Karry gaping at the obvious Sith with the red lightsaber before HE took off running too.</p>
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    <p>This would not be the first time. Karry was becoming a persona-non-grata over the next few weeks. EVERY time he tried to arrange a business deal, that Sith would appear, casually strolling by, stopping to say hi JUST in the middle of the business deal. Karry couldn’t get a single person to place a bet on any race whatsoever. Again and again and again the Sith kept popping up, always evilly and so CHEERILY smiling at Karry. </p>
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    <p>Finally, at the top of a roof, after yet another day of losing business...Karry fell to his knees, slamming his fist into the ground again and again and again. “DAMN IT DAMN IT DAMN IT! You got something to say to me, SAY it!” </p>
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    <p>“How does it feel?”</p>
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    <p>Karry suddenly realized the man was right behind him. And...and it was KENDALL. Kendall was taking off the helm, a holographic guise falling away...but that lightsaber remained. He twirled it a bit as he and Frequency stood together. “You’re a Sith magnet now. Nobody from your world will speak to you. Nobody will look at you. You’re invisible to them. Do you GET what I’m trying to say to you?” “This is about that...that guy who made that bet, isn’t it? Valentino?” Karry asked nervously as Kendall nodded.</p>
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    <p>“I’ll stop appearing and interfering in your business...if you tell me what really happened.” Kendall said. “Right now.” </p>
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    <p>Karry bit his lip, his body shaking, quivering in fear as he gulped. “I...the thing is...he won. He won and I couldn’t cover the bet.” “You couldn’t cover the bet?” “It was a long shot. The LONGEST. He...he BROKE me. But you...you can’t do business broke. I had to pay him. I had to pay out, I tried to get him to ROLL it over, I mean...most guys do! But he gave me a line about how his daughter, the doctor, needed the money, she was going to be giving birth, he needed it badly and he wasn’t going to leave the money with me. I had to pay, and...and the only thing worse than losing your bank is not paying. It ruins your reputation. I had to pay, and...so I...I lied to you. I said he went back to his home, I figured...I figured nobody would miss him. He was just a guy who worked a news stand. Nobody would care…” Karry trailed off. </p>
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    <p>Frequency slowly got the pistol he’d shown off to Kendall a little while back out of its holster, but Kendall held his arm out. “You’re going to leave this planet. Tonight.” He said quietly. “You are NOT going to return. But first...you’re going to tell me where he is.”</p>
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    <p>And so, the next morning, Darth Raize and Furiosa were gently holding the shoulders of Valentino’s wife and daughter, as his wife quietly cried, all of them looking down into the depths of a large lake on the outskirts of the capital. “...it looks so cold down there. He...he doesn’t like the cold.” Hali murmured as Nora covered her face.</p>
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    <p>“I’m gonna be right back.” Frequency said as he flexed his shoulder muscles a bit, doing a pinwheel-esque motion before he dove into the water with a loud splash. Raize quietly watched, seeing Frequency’s blue form sinking down, down, out of sight, further into the depths of the lake. He’d trained as lifeguard for years, he was very good at swimming, and holding his breath. It was a good thing too, the lake was indeed cold and dark, a murky abyss that you could barely see anything in, but Frequency could see HIM.</p>
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    <p>A few fish slowly passed by him as Frequency touched down on the bottom of the lake, and gently knelt down. Valentino Savarr had been wrapped up in an enormous tarp from head to toe, and tied down in chains that were icy to the touch, serving to keep his frame at the bottom of the lake. Some fish had nibbled away at the tarp, thinking it was food, and as a few faint glimmers of sun cast light down from the water’s surface high above, one just barely caught the top of Valentino’s head, and the clear, obvious injury that had caused his death. </p>
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    <p>Frequency picked him up, grunting a bit, and then began to undo the chains, swimming up with the form of the newsstand man. He had no intention of telling either of the Dyad how exactly he’d found the man. Not because he owed Kendall anything...him sparing Karry was the favor Kendall had asked for. He wasn’t going to tell the Dyad because he knew they were looking for him, and would kill him the minute they found out where he was hiding out. And somebody that decent...Frequency couldn’t bring himself to sell the Logosian out. </p>
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    <p>“...we should say something about Mr. Valentino.” Furiosa offered to Raize as Raize wiped her eyes. “...when we do our weekly address to Nar Shadaa. About...about the ordinary people who can...slip through the cracks.”</p>
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    <p>“I would like that very much.” Mrs. Hali Savarr murmured as Raize nodded, Frequently gently putting Valentino’s body down, covering his face for the family before he quietly shook all of their hands, and then walked off, his paws in his pockets, just...thinking...about all he’d seen. </p>
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    <p>And thinking about speaking to Kendall again.</p>
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    <p>
      <em>“Today we mark the unfortunate demise of one Valentino Savarr. We had a reliable bounty hunter associate, Mr. Frequency, track him down after he was murdered and his body hidden in Lake Everclear, to the eastern outskirts of the capital. Some of you may ask why we’re...speaking about a random person who never did anything very “important” in their life. But the thing is, everyone in this city is...they’re not background noise. When one of us vanishes, someone else should notice. Every person is a star. A life. A heart. A voice. And when a voice is silenced by darkness, another must rise to see justice gets done. Valentino is survived by his wife, and his pregnant daughter, who expects to give birth in a few weeks. The funeral service will be attended by my wife and I. We would...very much like if you could come. It’ll be tomorrow at 1:00, in the eldest chapel on Main Street…” </em>
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<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Apprentices</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was a famous rule for the Sith and the Jedi. The Rule of Two. ALWAYS two there must be. A master, and an apprentice.</p>
<p>Kendall may not have been very good at the Jedi ways, but he was honored to be under Leia’s tutelage, to have her be his mistress. But for Darth Furiosa and Darth Raize...who were THEIR Sith padawans? Who had they chosen to be their apprentices, who would help pass on their own teachings to others, just as they had learned so much from them? </p>
<p>Well, the first padawan had been a rather...unusual choice. Because he’d been an ordinary leftover trooper. A nobody of a Mandalorian warrior who’s first actual instance of action hadn’t gone well at all. </p>
<p>The night was sultry as thunder and lightning split the sky, clouds of dust billowing about under dark red across a dark grey plain. The alien moon was an outpost for a Galactic Republic world, and Mandalorian forces had raided it. It had been simple, you see. The post was run by a governor, who’d recently won an election on a strong interventionist program. The colonies on the edge of the Rim were frequently targets for Mandalorian raiding parties, and Governor Kanaida had spoken up.</p>
<p>Instead of an ISOLATIONIST policy in which planet Corasar just defended itself from any incoming attacks and just had large walled cities and defensive shields and they just kept to themselves...instead, why not be a part of something greater? Have the planets nearby combine with them, pool their resources, have everyone contribute and become a BULWARK against the Mandalorian forces! Sure, it’d be risky...but everyone would share in the risk, and for once, there would be a sense of not being isolated and alone. If they all shared in the struggle, then everyone would feel equal. </p>
<p>He appealed to how much they loved being in the Galactic Republic. To be free of the slave worlds of the Outer Rim. To not have to be farmers and working the land on harsher worlds than what they had here. And to have a voice in how things were run...that, above all, that meant a lot to them. They could matter here. </p>
<p>But of course, it was their choice. So they put it up to a vote.</p>
<p>Sure enough, they chose Governor Kanaida’s plan. The sector of the galaxy decided to join together and work on creating a united militia of planets, as it were, to stand against Mandalore and its many raiding parties. And they’d made things really, really difficult for the Mandalorian warriors. The loud roar of the raiding parties was being quickly drowned out by the loud THUDDA-THUDDA-THUDDA of heavy duty turret fire. The Mandalorians were losing their attempt to try and get a foothold of the planet, and they were losing badly. </p>
<p>The combined resources of the militia of planets had worked well. They’d each covered one another’s weaknesses, and Corasar’s powerful turret stations and their hidden bunkers where the inhabitants of the planet could launch attacks from were proving too much for the Mandalorians. Only a few villages here and there on the farthest outskirts of civilization weren’t doing well.</p>
<p>The Mandalorians were super spiteful about this. FURIOUS. And on that sultry, dark knight, the commander had ordered that particular, special warrior to help torch the entire village, and put every single “fucking hick on this planet to the torch too, and we’ll teach these people to fucking fear us!!!”. </p>
<p>Needless to say, Finn, the warrior, was positively disgusted by this. He’d begun torching one of the houses...and then had begun vomiting into his helmet. His buddies were disgusted...not by what they had to do, but by the fact he was puking all over, struggling to get his v-slit helmet off. He flopped onto the ground, spluttering, coughing, and then felt his stomach churn, as he unloaded even more of the contents within onto the ground below.</p>
<p>“...pussy.” One of the warriors grunted as another one “tsk-tsk’d” and shook their head, a third rolling their eyes behind their helmet. </p>
<p>“You’re a bigger woman than I am.” She remarked as she sneered down at poor Finn. “It couldn’t be more pathetic.” The female Mandalorian remarked as the others all slapped high fives with her, grinning and laughing as they kept moving on to other buildings, and a horrible cacophony of screaming, howling voices was ringing through the air. Finn could hear the wailing of those being burned alive...and he ran. He ran, and ran, and ran, ripping his armor off, and fleeing as fast as he could.</p>
<p>And who should he run into...but Darth Raize. Smack dab into her. She had, interestingly, arrived at the planet because she and Darth Furiosa had been spying on the place, and the other planets in the militia, ever since they’d joined together. She’d been scouting it out, hoping to turn other people to their side, to act as spies. And as she looked down at Finn, she felt something in him…</p>
<p>He had short-cut black hair. Dark brown eyes. Slightly large nose. A face so haunted...and he had FORCE POTENTIAL. Real, genuine force potential. And so she smiled down at him, holding out a gloved hand.</p>
<p>“Do you want to learn how to use a lightsaber?” She’d asked him. </p>
<p>Finn had stared up at her. He saw her lightsaber. Her dark clothes. Her imposing figure. He could tell, he just could, that she was a Sith.</p>
<p>But after what he’d seen only five, six minutes before, he found himself saying “Yes”.</p>
<p>Well, Finn DID learn to use a lightsaber. He was actually surprisingly good at it. Real damn good, for a newcomer. He wielded it like a blunt instrument, smacking and slashing with astounding ferocity. It was as if he had a greatsword or a gigantic baseball bat in his hand. Raize would often have to warn him, anger was all well and good but don’t get TOO furious. Not BLINDED by anger. She’d learned not to do that the hard way. </p>
<p>Well...so she said. But Finn wasn’t entirely sure she took that lesson to heart, because he, like Poe Dameron, had been in the same room when Furiosa’s mother and grandmother had been made fun of with that tasteless joke, and she’d lashed out with raw sith lightning, rather than harsh words. </p>
<p>It’d been...unpleasant to see...but Finn truly believed in what Raize was doing on Nar Shadaa. The quality of life had improved drastically for those on the planet. Who was he to deny results if they worked so well? And besides, she’d been nothing but decent and wise and good to him. And working with Poe...that had been even better.</p>
<p>Poe Dameron was a great, great man. And you knew this because Poe made sure you knew it after every successful mission. Multiple times. </p>
<p>Poe had, regrettably, not been able to make it in the Galactic Republic’s fleet. He’d tried very hard, but unfortunately for him, he was the sort of person who would buzz the tower for kicks. He had a hard problem with listening to people in authority, and while some questioning and skepticism was normally not a big deal, the almost constant refusal to listen to what his superiors ordered him to do WAS.</p>
<p>At first, they hadn’t minded that he didn’t stick to all of the regulations and rules that his ship had to adhere to. Fine, fine, put whatever hot-looking naked woman or man you wanted up in your cockpit. Sure, it was unusual, but we don’t mind you painting your ship a different color or...painting things ON it, however...risque. What was that? You thought you saw an opening to attack those raiders? Hold on now, you shouldn’t go ahead, we’re trying to engage in defensive maneuvers, wait for backup-oh, there he goes. Well, we’ll let it go THIS time.</p>
<p>But you couldn’t keep “letting it go this time” when ‘this time” was turning into “every other time”. Again and again and again Poe just kept ignoring the blatant warnings and orders of his superiors. He was an aggressive combat fighter, a savant behind the cockpit, helped along by being extremely force sensitive. </p>
<p>Finally, the Galactic Federal Republic put their foot down. He’d been called in by the admiral. “Look, nobody’s denying your skills. But we’re asking you…to tender your resignation.” </p>
<p>“WHAT?!” Poe had been furious. Poe had a well-built, slightly long nose, a dashingly handsome face, wavy, well-kept hair, and a five-o-clock shadow, and now that lovely face was scrunched up in anger. “Why?! I’ve been given commendations, I’m the best pilot in my squadron, hell, in the whole fucking Third Fleet!” </p>
<p>“Hold on, hold on. Poe, your skills are amazing. Your aptitude is very high. We grant that.”</p>
<p>“I’ve gathered the most remarkable young pilots around this sector to the fleet! I’m the best captain you’ve got!”</p>
<p>“And what have you TAUGHT them?” </p>
<p>“Things you wouldn’t believe!”</p>
<p>“We can’t believe it, alright. The way you keep ignoring what the instructors said, what the commanders said, what the sergeants said, over and over and over.” The admiral intoned. “Time and time again you deliberately disobey directions. You don’t follow instructions. You go against what you’ve been ordered to do. You even go against what you’re SUGGESTED or ASKED to do every other time.”</p>
<p>“What on Earth is that supposed to mean? How can you say such a thing? Why does that matter?”</p>
<p>“That’s three questions right there in five seconds, thus proving my point.” the admiral intoned. “At a certain point, you NEED to accept what instructions and guidance you’re given on faith. You don’t do that at all. On top of that, you seem to be under the impression that you don’t have to answer to anybody as long as you blow up the right ships. Well, that’s not how it works. We need to know, when we put people out into the field, they’ll stick, overall, to the plans we have and not drastically deviate from them, thus potentially putting our work, our other troops and soldiers and pilots and even ourselves, at risk. What happens when you decide to assault a star cruiser on your own, your co-pilots race over to help, and they get killed because you couldn’t stay in formation like you were asked? What happens when you decide to go blasting your way through a space station when you were merely told to scout it, and you leave your platoon behind, allowing them to be caught off guard, captured, or killed? You spend so much time questioning our orders, yet you never seem to question yourself.”</p>
<p>“Why would I do that when I’m RIGHT?!” Poe snarked, folding his arms over his chest, the admiral staring at him before he shook his head slowly back and forth, sighing as he leaned back in his enormous leather chair behind his desk. </p>
<p>“See, right there.” The admiral said softly. “That’s what I mean. Goodbye, Mr. Dameron. And good luck to anyone who can endure you.” </p>
<p>With that, Poe had been kicked out of the fleet. All his commendations and everything didn’t mean a thing now. Word spread about his reckless, brash behavior and his rebellious attitude. And so it was that he’d found himself forced to take random piloting jobs, and ferrying people around...and one particular job had landed him in Nar Shadaa, where a certain dark-skinned, lovely-looking long-haired woman had taken notice of him. </p>
<p>“Hi.” </p>
<p>Poe had stared at her, stunned at how deep her eyes were, and the fact she was sitting INCREDIBLY close to him, and looking right into his eyes, one hand on his, whilst he, in turn, was seconds from lifting his drink to his mouth. “...um...c-can I help you?”</p>
<p>“I think I can help you.” She told him softly. “Tell me, Poe Dameron. Do you...sense that things are going to happen before they do? Do you feel like you “know” what’s going to occur when you’re flying around before it does? Do you feel connected to something greater than yourself?” </p>
<p>“...I...I mean...are you talking about God or something? I dunno if I believe in it God. My beliefs have always been like...just...something more or less behind it all.” He reasoned.</p>
<p>“That’s cute.” She’d chuckled. “But I was thinking more like...this.”</p>
<p>And then she’d whisked her hand, and a cup had sailed across the bar and into her grip as she grinned at him. “Would you like to learn how to do that? To hone the incredible skill I can see shining off you so brightly, like a star?”</p>
<p>Poe had felt a deep blush swell in him. He stammered and stared, but the words out of his mouth were a distinct “Yes! Yes, please!” </p>
<p>While Poe wasn’t nearly as good with a lightsaber, he was INCREDIBLY good with the more mystical and spiritual powers of the Force. He could easily use telekinetic skills to pull and tug things around, lifting large objects, leaping high through the air, or, of course, the classic “Force Persuasion”. He was very...VERY fond of that.</p>
<p>“You don’t want to sell me gamja leaves.” Poe whispered as he and Finn stood waiting for Darth Furiosa and Darth Raize in the lobby of the tower, a young man in a hood and robe staring stupidly ahead at Poe, slowly lowering his arm, having shown off what laid inside of his robe.</p>
<p>“...I don’t want to sell you gamja leaves.”</p>
<p>“You want to go home and rethink your life.”</p>
<p>“...I’m...going to go home to rethink my life…” The young man muttered as he turned around, heading for the door as Finn smiled, giving Poe a pat on the back.</p>
<p>“Good on you.” He said with a grin before he turned to see their masters descending the stairs. “Ah! Mistresses.” He and Poe bowed their heads as Darth Furiosa and Raize shook their heads.</p>
<p>“Please, no standing on ceremony. We’ve got a very simple request for you. We want you to track down THIS man.” Darth Furiosa held up a small holographic inducer, showing off a rotating image of a faintly familiar, red-haired young man. Oh! Poe recognized him, he worked at the free clinic that he’d frequently visited while he was trying to save money for a nicer ship, so he could take on nicer, better-paying jobs. “His name is Kendall, he’s a nurse, and he happens to be...surprisingly...skilled with a lightsaber. His connection to the Force is otherwise rather pathetic, but he’s remarkably adept. He was able to take Raize’s lightsaber, and fight her off even when she used her spare.”</p>
<p>Finn whistled, surprised by this. “Wow...gee, I didn’t think anyone could.”</p>
<p>“He got lucky.” Raize insisted as she spat on the ground. “Worse still, we’ve had some of our employees bringing up how he’s approached them along with a few other people. Like that worthless relic Han Solo…”</p>
<p>“And that bitch, Leia, his wife.” Furiosa added with a scowl. “With them with him, it’ll be tricky. What you need to do is get him ALONE to take care of him. We’ve sent the locations of bars he frequents often, we want you to stake the locations out and deal with him. Think you can do that?”</p>
<p>Poe grinned cheekily. “Well...you know me. I’ve got a way with words.” He remarked.</p>
<p>“Ohhh no. Don’t bother. He seems heavily resistant to Force Persuasion. I tried to force him to give me my lightsaber back, it didn’t work.” Raize balefully admitted. “No, no...find another way.”</p>
<p>“I will.” Poe swore, he and Finn both nodding. “We’ll take care of him, Mistresses. Don’t worry. We’ve never failed you yet.”  </p>
<p>The two of them left the room, both dressed in their finest lightweight attire, with black gloves and boots to match. Poe had a very fine dark brown longsleeve jacket with a belt of many pouches, whilst Finn wore his own jacket, a much lighter shade of brown with many pockets inside and out. The pockets came in handy, they helped to hide all kinds of goodies. For the most part though...it held snacks. </p>
<p>“Here.” Finn reached into his jacket, tossing a small bag of fruit snacks to Poe as he cheerily grinned. “We could be waiting a while when we’re staking out the bars he seems to frequent and I know you’re not a fan of peanuts.”</p>
<p>“Hey, thanks.” Poe said with a grin. “Oooh, they’re “Gusher” style!” He said, examining the fruit snacks and popping the sugary-juice-filled fruit snacks into his mouth with gusto. “Thanks a ton, you’re so considerate.” He told Finn as Finn smiled warmly back.</p>
<p>Darth Furiosa, meanwhile, was making a call, as Frequency the Bouny Hunter appeared on the other end of her communicator. “Wassaaaaap?” He asked.</p>
<p>“We’d like you to take care of somebody. JUST in case things go south with our apprentices. We don’t like leaving things to chance, and unfortunately, that moronic Logosian seems unnaturally gifted with luck.” She informed the blue-furred bouncy hunter as he adjusted the red lifeguard-esque cap he had atop his head, whistling a bit.</p>
<p>“Yeah, um...thing is, that guy you’re sending me this contract on?” Frequency examined the picture. “...I kinda owe him one.”</p>
<p>“What?!” Furiosa sounded mortified. “How?! Is he a former friend?”</p>
<p>“No. Never met him before two weeks ago.” Frequency informed Furiosa as a chill ran up her spine and she and Raize glanced at one another. “Yeah. Remember that guy I said who helped me find your newsstand-owning friend? That was him.” Frequency admitted. “He got the guy who did it to talk in a way I couldn’t. I kinda owe him a favor.”</p>
<p>“...so you won’t help kill him?” Raize wanted to know.</p>
<p>“You wanna pay me to totally waste somebody? Sure. I don’t care. But when it comes to guys who do me a solid, I do it back. I owe him, so I can’t kill him.” The yellow/golden-eyed bounty hunter told her as he shook his head. </p>
<p>“Then...will you at least keep an eye on our apprentices and him and report back to us what’s happening as it happens?” Raize sighed as she pinched the space between her eyes and shook her head back and forth. “We’re not asking you to step in to kill him if they fail, just tell us if they succeed, or if they’re failing, or if that bitch Leia or her stupid husband comes in.”</p>
<p>“Not a fan of Leia, I take it?” Frequency inquired.</p>
<p>“Or her husband. Those hetereos are making me upseteroes. If they DO show up...will you kill them?”</p>
<p>“Yeah...sure.” Frequency shrugged. “They don’t owe me anything. They’re fair targets. They try to interfere, I’ll handle them.” He told the Dyad with a nod. “Adios, dudettes.” He ended the call, sighing a bit as he pocketed the communicator into his red shorts pocket, humming a bit as he walked across the room he was in, going over to the high-powered sniper rifle. His four-digited paws lifted it up, feeling over the cold texture of the gun as he quietly examined it, ensuring it was properly loaded and functioning as he put on the invisible laser light scope. Well, not “invisible”. His eyes could see the dot much better than normal humanoids could. It helped in his missions, having far better eyesight than his targets.</p>
<p>Being an bounty hunter is a good job. You weren’t guaranteed to go hungry, because at the end of the day, there’d always be SOMEBODY who wanted SOMEONE dead. </p>
<p>Now, naturally, there were always moral and ethical questions about this sort of thing. But that was something Frequency had dealt with at a very young age indeed. The psychos who beat their wives to death with their golf trophies or the wives who burned their husbands alive in their beds or the kids who’d stab their parents while they slept had feelings to work through. They had the “passion” for what they did. A professional could have passion, sure, but what they really needed was standards. </p>
<p>And Frequency, in essence, had two. If you did right by him, he’d do right by you. And if he thought the job was doable and the pay good enough, he would do it. Regardless of who he had to kill. </p>
<p>He shouldered the sniper rifle, and readied the knives in his pockets and felt through the little pockets hidden in his sleeveless white shirt. Yep, there they were. He had everything he needed. Feeling satisfied, Frequency walked towards the nearby fancy music player located in a big, mahogany entertainment center in the room, turning the highly advanced “stereo” on…</p>
<p>In a few seconds, he was gone. </p>
<p>…</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>…</p>
<p>…“Oh the night that Paddy Murphy died, is a night I'll never forget!<br/>Some of the boys got loaded drunk, and they ain't got sober yet;<br/>As long as a bottle was passed around every man was feelin' gay,<br/>O'Leary came with the bagpipes, some music for to play!”</p>
<p>The bar was filled with loud, rowdy roaring laughter, beer being knocked about as tankards and mugs clashed together. Several people were doing keg stands as Grohtk the Trandoshan had one arm wrapped around Kendall’s shoulder. They were singing merrily along with the assembled shipping yard workers and guards of the tower and a few soldiers even who’d all come to the bar to drink and party and just have a good time. </p>
<p>Kendall had been listening to a LOT of people that worked for the Dyad. They were surprised to find how...personable he was. He just...listened to what they had to say about the events and news of the day, and then he’d just chat about how they were feeling, and their day to day lives, and what it was like to work for the Dyad. It was that ability to listen that really seemed to be getting him hitting it off with the Dyad’s employees. </p>
<p>They all knew full well by now, though, that he’d tried to directly assault the Tower, that he’d managed to fight one of the Dyad off with their own lightsaber, but that had, surprisingly, impressed many of them. On top of that, nobody really tried to drag him off to the Dyad themselves. They just assumed somebody else would, or that someone else had already called the Dyad and told them where he was, and after a few drinks, and just chatting it up with Kendall, the mere idea of that was long since forgotten.</p>
<p>Not even being a gay Logosian seemed to be too odd to them. Yes, it was VERY strange that such an openly religious, fundamentalist species even HAD gay people to many of them. When he’d confessed his sexuality whenever the topic got breached, it tended to make the workers for the Dyad stunned. How had he survived being on a planet that did things like conversion therapy, where being so different, so...alien...could be fatal? Why hadn’t he been dragged into some alley after school with people yelling “We’ll teach you, f-ggot” as somebody wailed on him with a crowbar?</p>
<p>Then they’d realized just what the markings on his neck were, and they didn’t ask about that sort of thing anymore. So they’d dive back into the drinking and the fun, and the singing and dancing would soon be echoing through the bar! Just like right now.</p>
<p>“That's how they showed their respect for Paddy Murphy!<br/>That's how they showed their honour and their pride;<br/>They said it was a sin and shame and they winked at one another,<br/>And every drink in the place was full the night Pat Murphy died!”</p>
<p>Kendall and Grohtk knew some nice “sea shanty” style songs. There was a huge shipping community and it was very easy to work boat songs around a bit into spaceship songs, from “Lukey’s Boat” to “Drunken Sailor”, and a song like this was no exception. So they stomped their feet, barreling out the song’s lyrics as loud as they could. It was really surprising that Kendall, of all people, had the much louder voice. Maybe because of the type of music he reaaaaally enjoyed singing and listening to. </p>
<p>“As Mrs. Murphy sat in the corner pouring out her grief, <br/>Kelly and his gang came tearing down the street!<br/>They went into an empty room and a bottle of whiskey stole,<br/>They put the bottle with the corpse to keep that whiskey-”</p>
<p>Then, alas, the door to the bar opened, and the final word “Cold” trailed off from everyone’s lips as the two apprentices of the Dyad stood there in the doorway. </p>
<p>“...bitches, leave.” Frequency chuckled as he peered on in, watching with his see-through binoculars from atop a nearby roof, his sniper rifle at the ready. The bar patrons were quickly shuffling out as Grohtk glanced over at Kendall. He was in deep shit if he didn’t leave. But he couldn’t just leave Kendall behind.</p>
<p>Kendall gave him a look. “You should go.” He said quietly. </p>
<p>Grohtk however...shook his head. He let go of Kendall, and pulled out a big, thick-looking, wicked knife from a scabbard hidden in the jacket he was wearing, his other hand whipping out a pistol as Kendall nonchalantly reached into the blue jacket he wore, taking out his lightsaber. “I take it you two work for the Dyad?” He asked as he looked the two over.</p>
<p>...oh wow. He stared back at them and they at him. Actually seeing him in person, they were rather taken aback as they heard him speak, and saw him. REALLY saw him. He had such...alluring eyes. The ride of wide cascading all around his pupils, the deep, alluring blue of his irises, and his voice...it had a quality to it they’d never experienced before. </p>
<p>“They require us to take care of you.”  Poe said, Finn shaking his head a bit, Poe trying not to look at Kendall’s eyes. “You, Trandoshan, get out of here, we’re only interested in the Logosian.”</p>
<p>“Your bosses are assholes, you know that, right?” Kendall inquired.</p>
<p>Poe stretched his hand out, but Kendall cringed, flinching a bit. “So you’ve got resistance against things like a “Force Push” too, eh...fine. I can handle that…” He said as he snapped his fingers and bottles flew up through the air along with chairs and tables. He launched his hand forward as they all flew at Kendall.</p>
<p>“Duck!” Kendall yelled out, Grohtk diving to the ground, firing off his pistol as Finn twirled his own lightsaber, the purple lightsaber flashing through the air, slashing and slicing, spinning around and deflecting the blows as Kendall fricassed the oncoming bottles and tables and chairs thrown at him. There were, however, far more things to toss in his direction than in the free clinic he’d been in before, and being somewhat drunk, his reaction speed wasn’t what it should have been.</p>
<p>THWAM! One of the tables slammed into his side, knocking him through the air. Poe grinned, launching yet a chair at him as it soared towards Kendall, Finn advancing on Grohtk, continuing to deflect the pistol bolts! But Kendall shot forward and kicked, kicked with astounding ferocity and strength! His training with Leia continued to keep his athletic skills honed, and he’d always been far better at hand-to-hand, close-quarters combat…</p>
<p>And he happened to have very powerful legs at that. A fact that may have saved his life, because the chair shot back at Poe with such force he barely ducked in time to avoid it slamming into his head. Kendall then spun through the air and brought his lightsaber down at Finn, who blocked the slice just in time as Grohtk fired on Poe!</p>
<p>TSSEEW! TSSEWWWW! The shots soared through the air, Poe twirling and diving away. He was terrible with a lightsaber, but he was a very good shot himself. He whipped out his own twin pistols, firing at Grohtk, who was firing back, using his vibro-blade knife he’d drawn to deflect the pistol shots as best he could. Loud TWANG-TWANG noises rang through the air as the shots kept getting knocked into the walls, burn marks popping up left and right as Finn and Kendall danced around one another, slicing and slashing with their lightsabers.</p>
<p>“You’re very...ERGH...good!” Kendall panted a bit, sweat beads dribbling down his brow. He had gotten skilled at using a lightsaber, but as good as he was, Finn was clearly much better than him. He was barely holding him back. “You m-must have trained under the Dyad for...GGHHH...a long t-time! Wh-who’s...YOUR particular...GGRRRGH...mistress? Raize or...Furiosa?”</p>
<p>“Raize!” Finn said, biting his lip. Kendall clearly had some serious raw talent, but he could also tell Kendall was barely able to keep toe to toe with him. The hiss of the lightsabers was echoing through the air, the two now tightly pushing up against one another, trying to force the other back. It was getting hot and steamy in the bar, having the lightsaber so close to his face was really heating things up! Now sweat was beginning to break out upon his forehead too. “She’s really very...wonderful once you...GRRGH...get to...KNOW her!” </p>
<p>It was then that Kendall did something that could have backfired horribly. But this immature, pathetic, sleazy tactic worked like a charm.</p>
<p>He kneed Finn right in the crotch.</p>
<p>“YEEEEEOOOOOOOWWW!” Finn reeled back, howling, clutching at his crotch, and Kendall delivered yet ANOTHER powerful kick, his leg sweeping up! His foot caught Finn right under his chin, making him flop onto his back. Poe whipped his head in his direction, realizing too late he’d been distracted. He barely dodged in time as Grohtk’s shot soared through the air. It missed...but then Grohtk dove at him and sliced with his vibro blade. </p>
<p>Poe got sliced, bad, right across the hand as he held it up to create a shield to protect himself. He cringed, wincing in pain, fingers curling, but his other hand shot out as lightning began to coalesce around his right hand! Kendall, realizing what was happening, leaped through the air as he held his lightsaber up.</p>
<p>KRRRRZZZZZAAAAAAPPPP! The hissing spark of lightning soared out from Poe’s fingers, curling around the lightsaber as Kendall twirled in midair and then tossed the lightning bolt off the saber, through the air and clear through the nearby wall.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, that wall had been positively soaked in alcohol from knocked and sliced-away beer bottles and the like. Now the entire place went up, a loud THUDDA-FWOOOOOOOOM echoing through the bar as Finn quickly staggered to his feet, he and Poe racing out the door as Poe made for the road and steadied himself upon Finn. Poe concentrated, closing his eyes, big, huge chunks of road getting ripped up as he shot them at the exit out of the bar as Grohtk tried to help Kendall up.</p>
<p>“Let’s see you get outta that one.” Poe swore as he and Finn waited outside, panting heavily, trying to catch their breath. “We’ve really put them in the hot seat, huh?” He laughed before wincing, Finn getting out a small medical kit from his jacket pocket. “OOOGH. Damn, this hurts…”</p>
<p>“Can’t you use the Force to lift those chunks of road away!?” Grohtk yelled out as he and Kendall looked around in a panic, the flames rising higher, smoke filling the air.</p>
<p>“I can’t DO lifting stuff, I’m terrible at that! I can’t even lift a glass of water with the Force!” Kendall told Grohtk, speaking as loudly as he could over the roaring of the flames that were hissing and sparking all around them. </p>
<p>“Well you gotta think of something or we’re screwed!” Grohtk insisted as he raced over to the nearby karaoke machine, trying to lift it up. The thing ran on big batteries, it didn’t have to be plugged into the wall at all, and now Grohtk was trying to lift it up. “Help me! If we blow open a hole in another wall, maybe we can race on through that and get out!”</p>
<p>“I’m trying!” Kendall said as he and Grohtk tried to lift the karaoke machine up, but they were both getting very dizzy. The smoke was filling their nostrils, sneaking into their lungs, it was hard to stand, and even though most Trandoshans were stronger in general than most humanoids, being partially drunk, and tired from the fight, AND with so little air left in the bar was proving too much eleven for Grohtk. “I’m...I’m trying, I’m...I can’t...breathe…”</p>
<p>“We...we gotta get...get out…” Grohtk moaned spluttering and coughing, falling to the floor with a THUD, along with Kendall, the flames coming closer…</p>
<p>Closer…</p>
<p>CLOSER...</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. A Small Favor for Frequency</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>"I can't believe I'm doing this." </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Frequency sighed as he held his head in one paw, the blue-furred, yellow-eyed alien grunting in irritation. He could, and perhaps SHOULD, just leave the Logosian and his Trandoshan friend in there to burn. After all, he was supposed to back Poe and Finn up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But then again, technically, they were gone now. He hadn’t been needed for the fight. And he did owe Kendall.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…f—k it.” He grunted at last as he tapped over his belt, as the green wavelength running through it sparked and buzzed, and in a moment, he’d vanished as the communicator he’d had in his paw dropped to the roof he’d been spying from. In an instant, Frequency was inside of the dark and burning expanse of the bar, roaring flames on either side as he emerged from the nearby karaoke machine, sliding out of it as if he was a jolt of blue lightning!  He grabbed hold of Kendall and Grothk, cringing a bit, and then, a moment later…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was gone once more, back on the roof, sliding out of the communicator and setting the two down as they began to cough and splutter and hack, struggling to get to their feet, to regain their breath as Kendall looked up, seeing Frequency there. “You…you saved me.” He whispered, his eyes slowly widening. “I…I don’t know how I can ever repay you.” He murmured at Frequency.</p>
<p><br/>“Yeah, well…” Frequency picked up his communicator. “You’re gonna stay real quiet while I contact the Dyad. Both of you.” He insisted with a dark glower. “Okay? Don’t say nothin’.” He turned to the channel that Darth Raize and Furiosa had told him to use as he let loose several clicks. “Hatchling to Eagle’s Nest. Hatchling to Eagle’s Nest. The snakes are toast. Repeat, the snakes are toast. Their nest is cinders.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh for f—k’s sake. Sweetie, the hetero’s making me upsetero again!”</p>
<p><br/>“I’ll handle it.” A distinct, cute little SMMMK of a kiss echoed out from the communicator and Darth Furiosa spoke up. “Alright, look, Frequency, JUST USE OUR AND YOUR NAMES. This is a private channel, ain’t nobody listening in, so just be blunt and tell us if the job’s done.”<br/><br/>“Finn and Poe evidently didn’t have a problem facing them, the bar they were fighting in TOTALLY in flames and I only saw Finn and Poe bailing outta there. The logosian didn’t escape outta the front door and there ain’t no back door either.” Frequency informed them. “So is that all you wanted? Everything cool, dudettes?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yes, everything’s “cool”, dude.” Darth Furiosa remarked. “You and your weird way of speaking. Where you hanging out surfing all your life?”<br/><br/>“I still surf, and I’ll have you know I catch MAXIMUM air.” Frequency bragged. “And I can catch that WITHOUT a magic space power, dudette.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Real impressive, I’m sure. Anyway, our business is concluded. Don’t tell anyone about it, or I promise you, we will find a way to make you pay harshly. Now, if we wanted to get in contact with you again…”<br/><br/>“I’m gonna be busy for a few months. Takin’ a real nice vacation.” Frequency said nonchalantly. “I need to just chill, y’know? Lay low and relax. Gonna catch some waves, the whole sun, sand and surf thing.” He remarked. “But tell you what. I got a real good friend, I’ll give you their number, they’ll merc for you for a discount. How’s that?”<br/><br/>“Fine, fine.” Darth Furiosa sighed as Frequency typed in his friend’s contact number, then ended the call, smirking a bit at Kendall and Grothk. <br/><br/>“Now then…I did owe you, but I didn’t have to save YOU, brah.” He pointed right at the Trandoshan, poking him in his chest with a thick paw digit and giving him a super toothy grin before he folded his arms over his rather smooth chest. “So. Here’s the deal. You…” He looked in Kendall’s direction. “Y’all gonna come with me to Pokitaru, the Vacation Planet. I want a little help for a job. The place hasn’t been so hot since some lunatic decided that the people livin’ there were a bit too soft, and a little terrorism would put the fear of God in ‘em. He fired into a café and everything and attacked my favorite bar there. MAJOR uncool. The bartender called me in to protect his place and his friends and I owe him for giving me a discount on drinks and stuff for years and years…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Frequency got out a small datapad from his pocket, handing it to Kendall. “So! You’re gonna come with me. I could probably take this guy on my own, but in case things don’t go down so well, I want somebody havin’ my back.” He remarked. “So you do this for me, we cool.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kendall sighed, shaking his head. “Of course. Fine, fine. I’ll do this for you. A Jedi should be helping people in need anyway.” He insisted. “But I’ll have to contact my Mistress and her husband and let them know what I’ll be doing. Otherwise they’re going to worry.”<br/><br/>“Sure, you can tell them, no prob.” Frequency remarked. “Totally cool with that. Just don’t tell them EXACTLY where you goin’.” He added. “Just in case the Dyad happen to capture your friends. That way they can’t tell. Heck, I’m not even gonna tell you what city we’re going to. We gotta keep it on the down low. But you should be glad! You’re going to Pokitaru! Gonna be a real good time, bro.” Frequency chuckled as he patted Kendall on the shoulder, Kendall cringing a bit.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, sure…” He muttered. “No offense, but I don’t know diddly squat about Pokitaru besides it being a vacation planet. For all I know, they could hate people like me the same way my home planet did.”<br/><br/>“Pokitaru’s TOTALLY cool, dude.” Frequency insisted warmly as Grothk nodded.</p>
<p><br/>“Oh, absolutely, it’s a very lovely planet and as long as you’ve the money for it, they don’t care what you are or where you’re from at all or what you do.” Grothk insisted. “It’s been a nice, safe, neutral planet for centuries for a reason. I’ve always wanted to go myself, but I could never afford it.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, well…” Kendall hesitated.</p>
<p><br/>“Dude, it’s just a job. Relax.” Frequency laughed. “You’ll do fine long as you stick by me, even if you can’t do jack shit with the Force besides swinging a laser stick well!” He sniggered as he patted Kendall on the back, leading him and Grothk down from the roof. “Maybe you’ll find time to hone your skills a bit. Cuz, gotta be honest, you could really use some work, bro. Even Jedi babies can move stuff with their mind!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Yeah, you don’t need to rub it in…” Kendall muttered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A few hours later, Kendall was getting on Frequency’s ship, and they were taking off for Pokitaru after Kendall had informed Leia and Han where he’d be going. Han had suggested to him that he try a simple training exercise…using the Force to sense where an attack was coming from by using a basic attack drone and covering his eyes. After all, Luke had done it that way! Just have the drone set on its lowest power level and use the Force to sense where its blaster bolts would be coming from.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So far though, this was not doing well. Because Kendall kept…well, “cheating”. He kept trying to peer through the headband that Frequency was letting him borrow. He’d wrapped it around his head and over his eyes, but Kendall kept looking “through”…or at least TRYING to…the headband to see where the drone was aiming at. The urge to peek was rising as his frustration rose!<br/><br/></p>
<p>BRRRZT!<br/><br/>“OW!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He kept getting zapped, too. It was no fun. <br/><br/>“Son of a…” Kendall snapped angrily. “Okay. Let’s…try AGAIN!” he grunted, his body beginning to shake with a barely-suppressed rage. He’d been at it for an HOUR and all he had to show for it was a bunch of light laser bruises on his body.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>BRRRZZZT!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Annnnnd  now there’s another one! Kendall angrily took the headband off, snorting, shaking his head back and forth. “Motherf—cking son of a s—t! F—k, f—k, f—k!” Kendall flopped onto a chair nearby as Frequency put the ship on autopilot with a flip of a switch and walked over to the drone, turning its attack pattern off.</p>
<p><br/>“Dude, maybe you’re not approaching it right.” He offered. “You gotta think up a new way to approach it. You’re not gonna do it the way Luke did it, ya gotta try it YOUR way!”<br/><br/>“But I kind of wanna BE like Luke. I mean…it’s Luke Skywalker. LUKE. SKYWALKER.” Kendall reasoned. “He’s the greatest Jedi of all! Everyone loves him! And even he started out barely good at all…” The red-haired Logosian sighed, holding his head in his hands and shaking it back and forth. “What am I supposed to do? I can’t sense the Force the way he could.” He muttered.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Look. I got an idea.” Frequency offered. “You ever heard of tossing somebody into the deep end to MAKE them learn to swim?” He reasoned. “It doesn’t always work, but it can work sometimes. I know it personally, bro.” Frequency remarked as he laid a hand on his chest, nodding his head a bit. “Here’s what you gotta do. Make it so you CAN’T see. At all. And then you GOTTA rely on the Force cuz you ain’t got no choice at all!”<br/><br/>“How am I going to…” Kendall trailed off as the idea really hit him and his eyes bulged wide. “Oh. OH. I…I think I know how I can do that. Frequency, can you, um…get the drone ready?” he asked as Frequency nodded and stood by the hovering drone, turning its attack pattern back on. THWIP. He flipped the switch and the drone buzzed back on just as Kendall reached up to his eyes and Frequency realized what he was up to.</p>
<p><br/>“Oh GROSS, dude! Major uncool!” He moaned as Frequency removed his eyeballs as easily as if he was popping out some pills from a bottle, putting the eyes down on table nearby and rising up. He took in a deep breath, reaching around his belt, finding his lightsaber, making sure it was facing the right way before he turned it on. It hummed happily, as if it was a dog that was shaking its tail, eager to play ball as Kendall took in deep, long breaths.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’d removed his eyes sometimes mostly to “shock” people, or for a bet or the like. He hadn’t done it often, but having a body that meant you had utter control over every single piece of it, even if it was separated from you was quite handy. Sometimes he’d even used it to help in surgery at the free clinic, he’d had the eyeball pop out, using its veins to “walk” around on the inside. It wasn’t like the clinic could afford advanced drones to do the spying inside someone’s body for them after all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now…he was having to rely on not having them in his socket, his empty sockets looking in the direction of the drone as he felt his body shake and quake, but not from fear or nervousness, but…anticipation. It was almost like a…smell invading his nose? A smell coming from…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The right. Aiming down at…his foot?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yes. Aiming at his foot! And…and now his neck! His right breast! Left flank! Right thigh! Right shoulder!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And as he realized where these “scents” were coming from, he heard the most beautiful sound of all…the sound of a lightsaber hissing as it blocked a laser blast. BRRZZZZ-SSSSTTTTT! Again and again, that lovely sound echoed through the ship as Kendall found his body shaking…with laughter! He was doing it! He was really doing it! He kept blocking the shots again and again…or at least, much more often than he’d been doing before. He still kept getting occasionally shot, but now it was only one in 10, rather than 10 in 10.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Progress!” He said happily as the finished up a solid hour of training, and focused, as his eyeballs crawled back into his hands. He popped them back on into his sockets, looking quite happy indeed. “Man, maybe if I’d known listening to the Force was so easy, maybe I should just take my eyeballs out every time I go out to fight with a saber…” He reasoned with a shrug as Frequency, meanwhile, had resumed taking the controls.</p>
<p><br/>“We’ll be at Pokitaru in ten minutes.” He remarked. “Oh, and uh…” He waved a paw in the air. “Don’t go, like, pulling your eyes out around me again, dude. Like...major creepy, dude.” He grunted. “And this from a guy who’s seen LOTTA blood.”</p>
<p><br/>“Say, I never asked you…” Kendall sat next to him in the cockpit as he raised a red eyebrow on up, looking intrigued. “How did you do that? Emerge from the karaoke machine and from that communicator?” He wanted to know. “What kind of power was that?”<br/><br/>“It’s “wave-riding”. I can ride any wave, including electromagnetic waves, radio waves, matter waves, ALL of ‘em.” He commented.</p>
<p><br/>“How’d you get that power?  It’s not a Force power, I’ve never heard of ANY Force gift like that and I’ve been doing a lot of reading with Leia on all things Force.” Kendall asked, still confused, rubbing his chin together. <br/><br/>“I made a deal with the Devil.” Frequency said as Kendall chuckled.</p>
<p><br/>“No, really, where’d you get it from?”<br/><br/>“I’m bein’ real, man. Serious as a heart attack.” Frequency told him, giving him a quiet, dangerous, horrifying look that blazed out from his eyes as fiercely as a brush fire. Kendall felt a shuddering chill sinking into his spine, slowly carving up its way up, up to the back of his neck as his mouth slightly hung open.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Best, perhaps, NOT to ask more, he reasoned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Meawhile, down at a normal bar, a slightly pockmarked young Pokitaru denizen was speaking to another native, this one with far better hair and who, honestly, looked better dressed than the pockmarked young man.</p>
<p><br/>“No way, Jamro.”<br/><br/>“Come on, Luu. I’m not asking you to sell secrets to the Hutts, its just taking some pictures.”<br/><br/>“That’s “all”, huh? You want me to risk blowing my security clearance for you? A huge risk with no guarantee?”<br/><br/>“Come on, you know something shady is going down with Pokitaru Planetary Travel, and you work for them so…” Jamro insisted.</p>
<p><br/>“UGH, honestly Jam, if we hadn’t already been dating for two years, I’d think you were jerking me along just to get-” <br/><br/>“FOOLS!”<br/><br/>“LUU, GET DOWN!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Jamro managed to jerk her down from the booth and table they were sitting at, both of them flopping onto the floor just in time. A good thing too, because a psychopath shooting high-powered laser bullets had torn through the bar, people screaming and yelling, horrifying THUDDA-THUDDA-THUDDA-THUDDA noises ringing through the air as people were shot. Bodies hit the floor, as a person with a mask over the top of his face that showed off his eyes but not anything below his covered-up nose angrily waved his guns about. He was loaded to the brim with weaponry, bandoliers stretched over his muscular chest, snarling furiously.</p>
<p><br/>“ANIMALS! This s—t is what we fought for?! What we DIED for?! Me and Mik didn’t get our asses blown off in ‘Man so you could waste away your lives like this! Thought I made it clear last time…you’re all on notice! Pokitaru’s had it! No more wasting the freedoms my people DIED to protect for you! Clean up your f—king act or the Red Death’s gonna do it for you!” said the Red Death, the humanoid getting onto his hovercycle and taking off…before launching a missile from his hovercraft.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>KRAKKA-THA-SCHOOOOOOM! It struck a nearby store, people screaming, chunks of store and innocent civilians flying everywhere as others flopped onto the ground, waiting for more horrors to be unleashed. Bits of innocent people cascaded down onto them as they screamed or yelled in terror, blood slowly pooling around Red Death’s many victims as the bartender, cringing, one hand blown off in the horror, reached for his bar’s communicator. Thank goodness IT was still working.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…hello dude? What’s wrong?”<br/><br/>“He…he came back…”<br/><br/>“WHAT?!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>… “This is gross, man. Just...be glad you can’t see this.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kendall was standing next to Frequency, currently in a disguise. He’d realized quickly that Pokitaru was a very popular vacation spot and this meant, POTENTIALLY, word about a Jedi who looked just like him could find its way back to Nar Shadaa. So…how to disguise himself? Well, he’d had to take his eyeballs out again and had covered up his eyes with the headband as he remained close to Frequency, whilst also having changed his clothing. He had taken his jacket off and his pants off and put on a pair of very baggy extra pants Frequency had which were khaki in color and a slim white undershirt. He’d also used hair dye Frequency had loaned him for when the bounty hunter wanted to change his appearance, now he had distinct white hair. He also used his lower register as much as possible and had spoken little AS possible.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There’s…twenty five dead. Maybe more once the cops finish loading up the body bags.” The bartender told Frequency. “The cops here heard there was a Jedi with you and they’re backing off. Hard to ignore the lightsaber and…um…lack of eyes…” The rather slim-bodied Rodian remarked as Kendall waved a hand in the air and gestured over at a spot not far away.</p>
<p><br/>“There. Vehicle?”<br/><br/>“This “Red Death” jerk had a vehicle. The cops said they’ve put out an all points bulletin but the thing’s gone. They turned invisible or something, they’re just gone.” The bartender remarked with a sigh.</p>
<p><br/>Frequency waved a paw in the air, closing his eyes as he approached the spot. “Hmm. I…I’m sensing…infra-red.” He remarked. “We can track him.” He offered. “Red Death’s as good as caught.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Frequency tugged Kendall along as Kendall sighed. He would have found Pokitaru very beautiful, the air was warm and relaxing, and a soft, gentle wind was blowing through his hair. The sand on his feet had been warm to the touch, even the streets felt warm. There were palm trees that softly waved about when the wind picked up, and the skies were a delightful, clear blue without a single cloud in them. Everything about Pokitaru was perfect if you wanted to enjoy a nice, pleasant beach vacation, no doubt about that. Even the wind itself had a delectable, sort of sweet, fruity smell that made you feel at ease, but…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then the unmistakable stench of the dead had infested Kendall’s nostrils. Now he remained close to Frequency, following after him, sometimes grabbing his hand to keep close. But the more he remained without his eyes, the more he kept relying on the Force to guide him. Sometimes he stumbled, bouncing off his feet, flopping face down and landing hard because he’d stepped on a rock or tripped on a curb, but he was getting more and more better at letting the Force flow through him, and “See” for him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And it was a good thing for them that the piece of shit hadn’t taken off very far. Because the unmistakable sound of heavy gunfire tore through the air as Kendall pointed in its direction as he felt something shoot through his body. Not something physical, but like a…punch. A punch in his gut, but inside his very mind or…dare he say it, his soul? Yes…yes, his connection to the Force meant he could feel the connection of others close by, their connection to the Force, to the “Life” that flowed through them all, connecting them to this grand, metaphysical web. And…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And several were slipping away, and quite a few had just been plain cut off from the “Life” Force. Frequency and Kendall raced to the door of where Red Death was, weapons at the ready, Kendall holding up his lightsaber.</p>
<p><br/>“I’m going to…TRY to talk to him.” He murmured. “If he won’t come in willingly, then you can take whatever shot you want. But Leia told me that a Jedi should always use force as a last resort.”<br/><br/>“Yeah, whatever, dude. Don’t blow it.” Frequency muttered, holding his rifle up, and biting his lip, his fur slightly bristling as Kendall listened to Red Death speaking on the inside.</p>
<p><br/>“All of you! Soft and wet and useless! ALL of you! Mik and I brought your liberty with our lives, and THIS shit is how you repay us?! Wasting your life playing f—king TEN PINS?!” Red Death yelled, an unfortunate wolf-woman hostage forced up to him by one thick arm. <br/><br/>“That’s enough.” Kendall spoke up as he entered the ten pin bowling arena, lightsaber held up, pointing in Red Death’s direction. “Let her go. Now. Or your head parts from your neck.”</p>
<p><br/>“Try it and the lady gets a fast lobotomy!” Red Death snarled, pointing his gut at the woman’s head, the wolfish alien shaking her head fearfully, eyes bulging out wider than dinner plates. And worse still, he had his head covered up by the weapon…Frequency couldn’t just blow his head off to save the woman.</p>
<p><br/>But still…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Get him.” Kendall yelled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>KRAKKA-THOW! He COULD shoot the gun, and Kendall dove forward. He tackled the woman loose from Red Death’s grip, the two rolling on the ground as Red Death snarled, launching himself behind a table to hide from Frequency as Frequency aimed in his direction, firing off another shot. Red Death now shot behind the countertop of the nearby snack stand, Frequency cringing. His shots weren’t piercing through the countertop the way they had the table, clearly the walls were made of sterner stuff.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re outnumbered and outclassed!” Kendall yelled. “Give up!”  He said as he rose up, taking in deep, long breaths, focusing in on Red Death, who rose up, hands in the air.</p>
<p><br/>“Go take a long walk off a short pier.” He snapped as Frequency raised an eyebrow, the mask-wearing man holding up a fist that held, well, nothing in it! What was he doing? “You got in one hit. You got lucky! If we’d knuckled under when the Mandos did that, people like you would be in the Baskar mines and eating Womp Rat Pies! Instead, you can eat THIS!” He proclaimed as…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As a gun suddenly popped out of thin air in his fist and he fired it off at Frequency! Frequency reeled back, yelling, it had struck the side of his head, tearing off a nasty chunk as he gripped his skull and cringed. “AGH!” He cried out as Kendall wheeled in his direction, eyes wide with shock.</p>
<p><br/>“I used to eat twerps like you on the fields of ‘Man for breakfast!” Red Death snorted. “You barely know how to use that thing, I reckon. You don’t carry yourself like a pro.” He told Kendall as Kendall held up his lightsaber.</p>
<p><br/>“Maybe.” He remarked. “I’m a bit new. Can still beat a coward.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kendall felt a pure, raw, seething rage slide off of Red Death, intermingled with a sense of…deep sorrow? And…and guilt? The waves of this emotion rolled off of him, the Force slamming into Kendall as Red Death snarled, and tossed something on the ground! PSSSSHHHHH!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Gas! Kendall reeled back as Red Death took off, using the gas to shield himself as Kendall raced over to Frequency, moving past the other people who were lying injured or prone or dead on the ground of the bowling alley.</p>
<p><br/>“Damn. He caught us by surprise that time.” Kendall murmured to Frequency. “Listen, some of these people are REALLY badly hurt, are you going to be okay while I try and tend to them?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’re gonna need your eyes for it.” Frequency said with a soft chuckle, reaching into a belt pouch, bringing out the Logosian’s eyes. “I’ll…ERGH…I’ll live. Go help who you can help.” He insisted as Kendall took his eyeballs back, taking the headband off and putting them back in their sockets as he raced over to the nearest injured.</p>
<p><br/>“Don’t worry.” He whispered. “I’m a trained nurse, certified and everything. I can treat this.” He offered to the harshly-breathing wookie, who whimpered as Kendall examined the brown-furred young alien’s wounds, getting out the proper tools from the belt around his waist. “Now, deep breaths…I’m going to have to stop the blood flow before I can apply a bacta patch…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How did he get those weapons?” One of the other people lying on the ground moaned aloud, shaking his head back and forth. “He just…it was like they teleported in outta nowhere…” The trandoshan female moaned, clutching at her badly-wounded arm as Kendall finished working up on the Wookie and raced over to her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You say “teleported”? Wait…” Kendall got an idea. Maybe…just maybe…he wasn’t creating those weapons from nowhere. Maybe he was teleporting them in from another place. And if he was doing that, there was a way he could stop Red Death after all! But first…Kendall wanted to do a little research. Perhaps Red Death had let something else slip to these people.</p>
<p><br/>“Did he say anything when he first showed up?” He asked the Trandoshan woman as he began to fix up her arm.</p>
<p><br/>“He talked about his brother “Mik”…” She admitted as Kendall raised an eyebrow up. <br/><br/>“So he’s his BROTHER…and evidently they fought in a war against the Mandalorians for Pokitaru…” Kendall murmured. “…I think I know how we can get to him, then.” He reasoned. “We’ll need to check the government’s records. Is there a city hall nearby?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…The next day, they’d laid out a trap for Red Death and he’d fallen right into it. Kendall had been very publicly treating others injured by Red Death’s work while also asking around if anyone had seen him. All of this to draw attention to himself. Now all they had to do was wait for Red Death to show up. And Kendall was making sure to stick to very SPECIFIC areas of the nearby beach in town. Unbeknownst to Red Death, Frequency had taken the time to bury little…devices…in the sand, or near trees, or stalls, all to make sure when the murderer DID show up-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“There he is. Right on schedule.” Frequency whispered, hiding on top of a roof, holding a remote, waiting for Red Death to approach Kendall as he looked in Red Death’s direction. Red Death had gotten out some seriously-big-looking flamethrowers and was smugly smirking at Kendall.</p>
<p><br/>“I’ve got you this time! Flamethrowers are a time-tested method against folks like you. Works real well!” He sniggered darkly. “I’m gonna cook you good!”</p>
<p><br/>“No. You won’t.” Kendall said as the onlookers nearby hid behind trees and in alleyways and behind dumpsters, fearfully looking on. Some of them were biting their lips, others were recording all of this on their communicators, a few glancing at one another as Red Death snorted.</p>
<p><br/>“What makes you say that?” He asked.<br/><br/>“This.” Kendall snapped his fingers and in an instant, the air around Red Death seemed to get instantly hotter. He howled, flopping onto the ground, his weapon sparking and sizzling, and before his eyes, it began to melt and rust away. <br/><br/>“How the fuck?!” The humanoid alien yelled, gaping in shock down at his weaponry as it began to dissolve into nothing but rusted metal, sifting through his fingers like sand as he gazed down at his now-near-useless-arsenal. <br/><br/>“Ionized the air. Scrambled your teleportation tech.” Kendall spoke bluntly as he shook his head. “No more weapons ‘porting in. It’s over.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Oh no it’s not!” Red Death snarled as he held up his bandolier he had around his chest, shaking his head back and forth. “Not while I’m still breathing. And I still got my power pack here that operates my weapons transporter. I’ve primed it, and you can’t stop me! It’s a dead man’s switch! It goes off the minute my hand goes off it, ten miles of land’ll just be POOF!” He proclaimed. “Think you can get anybody in this city away in time? HA! You’re gonna be dissolved like-”<br/><br/>“That’s enough, Byo.”  A voice rang out, Red Death stiffening up as he looked off in its direction. Frequency was climbing down from the roof, and helping a civilian approach from out of a nearby alleyway. Well…the word “approach” was a bit off. More like “barely hobble”. He was horribly, terribly burned. His legs were barely legs at all, having horrible burn marks on them, and his hands…well, WHAT hands? His actual hands were just stubs. He had to use synthetic hands, which were hanging from his sides.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And his face, well…his face was nigh-unrecognizable to anybody as even remotely humanoid. There almost was no face. There was one sunken-in, red, bloody socket for an eye as the man removed the fake eye installed in it, sighing quietly as he gave it to Frequency, speaking again. His pained, harsh, growling, throaty voice rang out through the air as he addressed his brother. “Byo. Stop.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…Mik…?” Byo murmured as he gaped in shock at his brother, his hands shuddering, the dead man’s switch being turned off as he shook his head. “Wh-what’re you…”</p>
<p><br/>“The war against Mandalore’s over. It’s got to stop.”<br/><br/>“What about the war for Freedom…?” <br/><br/>“It’s finished, Byo. We won, but now we all want to move past that and forget. ALL of us. Let it end already.”<br/><br/>“We did some research, dude.” Frequency spoke up. “You kept talkin’ about Mandalorians and the war and you mentioned a brother. So we went to Pokitaru’s city hall and asked for records of veterans who’d been in the war and had got hurt badly. You’d brought up how you got your ass blown off in the war, but you didn’t have ANY injuries on you. But we did find a guy named “Mik Duboir”…he’d lost so much of himself AND…he had a brother. A brother who, when we looked at his face, well…”<br/><br/>“We knew it was you. The chin, the eye color, the body, all a match.” Kendall added.</p>
<p><br/>“And when we went to check with Mik and he told us his story, he even showed us old videos of the two of you out surfing and playing on the beach a few weeks before the war. But you didn’t even really serve. You got assigned to cooking duty, right? That’s what Mik said.”<br/><br/>“…I was…too scared to be on the front lines after I’d spent a month out there. M-Mik took the post I should have had and…and lost all…all that SKIN...” Byo, the “Red Death” muttered out as he took off his mask, tossing it to the side, he and his brother embracing as Kendall cringed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“You’ve been in and out of psychiatric hospitals for years. You need real help.” Kendall said quietly. “We’re going to see you REALLY get it now.” He added.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Frequency patted Kendall on the shoulder, biting his lip. “You know…I would have just shot him.” He admitted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“That’s not what a Jedi would do though.” Kendall muttered.</p>
<p><br/>“You, Luke and Leia are, like, the only Jedi left. Doesn’t that mean you guys get to define what a “Jedi” means?” The bounty hunter inquired.</p>
<p><br/>“If I was the last doctor in the galaxy, I couldn’t just say “doctor” means “somebody who kills your pets”.” Kendall whispered angrily back at him. “The term “doctor” doesn’t get to mean something way different just because I’m the only one left. There’s principles a doctor has to adhere to, and principles a JEDI has to. Or else, they’re not fucking doctors…OR a real Jedi.” He insisted. “And I AM…a real Jedi.” He said, gripping his lightsaber tightly.</p>
<p><br/>“Yeah…yeah, guess you are.” Frequency said with a little smile.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Can You Take Me Higher</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Okay…this time for sure.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He held up his hand, pointing at the rock. Kendall focused intensely, closing his eyes, biting his lip as the red-haired young man tried to visualize the rock floating in midair. He’d been at this for hours and hours and hours, trying every single day since he’d arrived in Pokitaru. Frequency sat nearby, munching on a fruit, looking intrigued.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kendall had not been doing well with the Force technique of levitating objects. He’d done better than he used to, that was for sure. That was a comforting thought. Indeed, when he had, at long, long last, after going at it for weeks and weeks and doing nothing, to FINALLY lift a small stick into the air about the side of a ruler…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It hadn’t been much, but to just see it floating in midair had brought tears to Kendall’s eyes. At long, long last, after months of being unable to move so much as a pebble…he’d finally lifted up SOMETHING with the Force. And he couldn’t have been happier. He’d been so happy he’d kissed Frequency right on the lips.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I LOVE YOU!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>SMMMMMK!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Woaaah! Dude!” Frequency had to push him back. “I’m, like, super flattered, but I’m straight, man.” Frequency told him gently. “Not into that kinda stuff.” He added, waving his paws in the air as Kendall blushed.</p>
<p><br/>“S-Sorry.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m really happy for you though, dude. Nice to see you finally Force Lifting stuff. Now…” He held up a rock. “…let’s try this rock!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, unfortunately…Kendall’s sheer joy at getting this to work had begun to fade, because he could only get the rock to wiggle. He grit his teeth, he furrowed his brow, he felt sweat beads breaking out on his face as he concentrated, trying to visualize the rock moving as Frequency remained quiet, watching nearby, continuing to munch on that big, fat, orange fruit he had. He chewed slowly, watching intently as Kendall cringed, flopping onto his knees.</p>
<p><br/>“Float, damn it! Float! Come on! COME ONNNN! AAARGGGH!”<br/><br/></p>
<p>Well…it worked, at long last. THWUMPH. The rock flopped up, right into the air, hovered for a few moments before Kendall’s eyes and then…THUMHF. Down to the ground it went, Kendall flopping onto his face.</p>
<p><br/>“I need a fucking drink.” He moaned out loud.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…“Take a look at…the FUTURE!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Leia had to admit, the device certainly was impressive. Dr. Bryne had thoroughly thought out every detail of this tour of her lab, the middle-aged woman smiling at Leia as she gestured at her creation. Her species were Nikto, they had a faintly reptilian design, scaly skin, black eyes, symmetrical horns on their heads, and it wasn’t uncommon to see lack of noses. She and Leia and the others in the lab had put on tight-fitting protective armor with “bubble” helmets…though the bubbles were more in the shape of “Rook” chess pieces than anything else. Leia looked the machine over, intrigued as she examined it, writing down notes on a datapad she’d brought with her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The device itself was enormous, faintly glowing a mixture of red and black, like someone had stuck a spinning top upside-down, pulsating energy coursing inside, tubes connecting it to the eclectic computers lying all about the laboratory. Capsules showing off the various siphonings of energy laid to the side as Dr. Bryne smiled in delight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This is quite the display of pyrotechnics. But I really do need to ask, what’s it for?”<br/><br/>“Power. There’s enough power in that containment canister you see up there to power ALL of Nar Shadaa! Not just the city.  The entire planet! And without dangerous waste OR damage to the environment!” Dr. Bryne remarked as Leia whistled.</p>
<p><br/>“My, my, that’s wonderful!” She smiled at the good doctor, bowing her head. “I would take my hat off to you. If I had one.” She confessed. “So this is what the future looks like, eh? Looks like it’s so bright, I’ll have to wear shades.”<br/><br/>“I’m not sure  it’s ready. But no, no, Dr. Bryne wanted to sell you a bill of goods.” Said a nearby Walz scientist, in rather croaky English. The Walz scientist had thick white fur all over their body and a tubular mouth sticking out of its head, with beady black eyes as the scientist frowned deeply.  It was hard to tell, you really had to closely watch a Walz’s eyes to tell how they felt, but it was undeniable…she was angry.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Dr. Jahn, I take it you have a problem with her Energy Actualizer?”</p>
<p><br/>“Putting it mildly, yes.” Said the female Walz as she snorted. “She’s tapped into the most basic form of energy on Earth. In the containment field is a type of living algae. Found on a few milligrams of ordinary water, and it produces trillions of watts of electricity!” She told Leia. “Now, naturally,I can get why you wouldn’t think that’s a problem at first, but watch…” </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dr. Jahn typed away on a nearby computer console, and a display popped on, showing off the strange, faintly pinkish algae. “See? There it is. This is a feed of the “Life Matrix” we have inside the Energy Actualizer. Watch what happens when we do a basic simulation. I’m accelerating the algae’s natural functions and…behold! They’re breeding like BUNNIES!” She proclaimed, pointing at the screen. “They double their numbers every half a minute, and with every  minute, their power level is increasing twofold!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ve told you, that’s not really a problem.” Said Dr. Bryne as she shook her head back and forth. “Just the opposite! The rapid replication makes the bio energy being produced so ideal for our needs. It’s a process that creates energy automatically, and then produces even MORE energy!”</p>
<p><br/>“And how much energy can we safely contain?” Dr.  Jahn snapped as she rose up, folding her arms in front of her chest. “What happens if our regulators cut out for all of ONE second? Like…say…THIS?!”  She slammed her fist into the side of a computer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>THA-THWOOM!</p>
<p><br/>“OH HOLY SHIT!” Dr. Bryne yelled out. “Tomas! Status?!” Dr. Bryne raced to a computer console as another doctor quickly typed across a control console, sweat beads breaking out on the other scientist’s heads, Leia stepping back, eyes going wide as dinner plates. <br/><br/>“Automatic safety locks closed, regulators back on, but the power curve IS rising,  Dr. Bryne. And fast!”<br/><br/>“Blow the dampers and flush the whole system!”<br/><br/>“See the problem?” Dr. Jahn told Leia as Leia cringed, shaking her head back and forth. “The SLIGHTEST unanticipated problem and the whole thing turns into something more dangerous than a runaway nuclear reactor!”  Leia shook her head some more, hands on her hips as she let loose a long breath.</p>
<p><br/>“My, oh my.” She murmured. “Look, you could have brought this problem up WITHOUT the rather grandstanding demonstration. Generally speaking, I prefer my life-threatening situations to be of my OWN creation.” Leia remarked dryly.</p>
<p><br/>“Don’t you realize what could have happened?! If the Actualizer blew, the discharge would destroy this whole facility!” Dr. Bryne snapped at the Walz scientist, poking her in her chest, her eyes a-blaze. <br/><br/>“Then…there IS a potential danger?” Leia inquired. “A danger which might exist even without that grandstanding from before?”</p>
<p><br/>“There is a danger in harnessing ANY kind of danger. Sometimes it can be immediate, other times it can be long-term, but really, there’s no danger.” Dr. Bryne insisted as Leia saw something faintly out of the corner of her eye.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Wait, not even from that smoking panel?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What?” Everyone wheeled around, gazing at the smoking panel, their eyes bulging wide, Dr. Bryne looking on in horror. “Oh my holy shit! MS. ORGANA! RUN! RUN FOR-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A loud, horrific, thundering roar rang through the air, an explosion knocking people clean off their feet. Everything went black for Leia as she let out a yell, bumped her head against a chunk of wall…and remembered nothing more.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At that moment, Han Solo had been on his way towards the facility with Kendall, who was currently still in his disguise he’d been wearing on Pokitaru, Han waving a hand in front of Kendall’s covered-up eyes.</p>
<p>“You really took your eyes out?”<br/><br/>“Yes. I did.” Kendall insisted with a sigh. “I know it’s hard to believe, but the longer I practice it, the more “in tune” with the Force I feel. Sometimes I spend an entire day without them. The more I FORCE my body to rely on the Force, the more it seems to be rewarding me. I feel more connected to it every day. It used to be like…” Kendall waved his hands in the air, trying to gesticulate. “Like it was a fruit just dangling out of reach. But then it turned into…well, the wind. Sometimes it’s constantly blowing, other times it’s just a breeze blowing in to provide relief, but it’s much more reliable than what it was before.”</p>
<p><br/>“Well, that’s good.” Han told him as they approached the laboratory. “Now, remember, this is gonna be a surprise for Leia. She thinks I’ve forgotten our anniversary, but I got her something REAL special.” He said as he held out the inside of his vest, giving Kendall a big grin before realizing- “Oh. Damn it. Forgot, you can’t really “see”.” He got the gift from out of his vest pocket and handed it to Kendall as Kendall felt over it, his brow furrowing. <br/><br/>“It feels like…a rock, but…but there’s a strange warmth to it. And…” His body seemed to shudder and shake. He felt a profound, horrifying sadness swell up in him, an urge to cry. “I…I feel almost sick holding it. Why…why do I want to cry?” He murmured aloud. “It’s just a rock…”</p>
<p><br/>“It’s not just ANY rock. It’s a piece of Alderaan, of the heart of the planet. It took me a long time to find it and to track it down, then I had it cooled off, cleaned up a bit, and now it’s ready for her.” Han told her. “Way better than any chocolates or flowers or alcohol or the like.” He reasoned. “It’s a part of her home. This way, she’ll always have something to remember it by, to remember the good times, and what the planet meant for her. It’s proof not all of it is just dust in the wind.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Well, I guess I could…see that.” Kendall chuckled before he felt a sudden, horrifying shudder tear through him as he gave Han the piece of Leia’s destroyed planet back to Han, a deep, horrible, sort of spiritual pick axe seemed to dig itself into his frame as Kendall reeled back. “Something’s gone horribly wrong!” He cried out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And then he heard the noise. He and Han reeled back, the facility before them going up in flames as Han screamed. “LEIA! LEIA!” He cried out, immediately racing forward, Kendall deciding to rip off the bandage around his eyes, shoving his eyeballs back into their sockets from the little pouch he had on his belt. No fooling around, just go, go, GO! He barreled towards the facility, quickly catching up to Han, pulling ahead as they began to sort through the rubble that laid all about them. The smoke was everywhere, Kendall and Han waving it away as they looked about through the ravaged facility. It was dusty, and smoky, and it felt like breathing poisoned chalk, thick, foul, unnatural…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>They began to move big, thick pieces of wall and roof to the sides, cringing, struggling to try and find survivors. To try and find…Leia.</p>
<p><br/>“Leia…oh come on, Leia…Leia! LEIA, please be okay. Please be okay. Please be okay.” Han whispered, tears brimming in his eyes as Kendall cringed, looking around at the chunks of wall and roof and floor. It was all intermingled, like a bad salad! “Kendall! Can…can you try to move all this with…you know. With the Force?”<br/><br/>“Even after all the connection I’ve gained to the Force, I’ve only been able to move small rocks and sticks.” Kendall groaned. “But…but I’ll try.” He admitted as Han put a hand on his shoulder and he looked in the direction of one collapsed pile of wall. He held out his hands, concentrating. “Come on…move! MOVE! MOVE, DAMN IT!” He cried out, trying to concentrate, to visualize the chunks of wall that had collapsed down into a messy pile moving up, ascending into the sky. <br/><br/>“Hey…hey, it’s shaking! It’s moving!” Han cried out as Kendall felt a sense of joy flow through him. At long, long last, after weeks, MONTHS of not able to move anything but super small objects…he was moving something this big! “Yes! Yes, yes, yes!”</p>
<p><br/>“Ha-ha! It’s working! It’s working, it’s working!” Kendall proclaimed with a big grin on his face.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then their smiles of joy faded as the pile exploded outward, and a considerably big, muscular, powerful-looking woman rose out. It hadn’t been moving because of Kendall…it’d been moving because this incredibly powerful being had knocked the pile off her in irritation. Han and Kendall gasped, looking at her, stunned and amazed. She was wearing the remnants of a protective armor suit that covered her chest and most of her arms and legs, but the helmet around her head had long-since chattered, and the gloves and boots on her frame were now in tatters. The face though was hard to “read”…energy was coalescing around it, obscuring most of her features. It was like she was a continuously burning candle!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Um…ma’am, are…are you alright…?” Kendall gently inquired, trying to approach her. She was huge! He could feel energy reeling off of her, and she was around eight feet tall! “I’m here to help-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The woman’s backhand knocked him back through the air! THA-THWOOMH. He flopped against a chunk of wall, cringing as Han gasped. “Damn, that huuuuurt!” Kendall moaned as he struggled to rise up. “She hits like a Trandoshan bodybuilder!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’ll try to stun her, kid!” Han cried out as he got out his blaster, putting it on the “Stun” setting as he fired at the woman. TSSSEEEW, TSEEWWW! The shots buzzed out of his blaster’s muzzle, barreling towards her. The blasts shot right towards the woman, who ducked a bit to avoid the onslaught of blasts as Han kept shooting. “We gotta try and take her down nice and easy, maybe she doesn’t know what she’s doin’.” Han reasoned.</p>
<p><br/>The woman snarled, grabbing a big piece of rebar, tossing it at Han. “Shiiiiiit!” He cried out, hitting the floor as it almost took his head clean off! “Or maybe she knows EXACTLY what she’s doing!”</p>
<p><br/>Kendall held his head, taking in deep, long breaths…and then he reached up to his eyes again. “Alright. Trust in the Force. Trust in the Force.” He said, taking his eyeballs out, placing them back in his sockets, and focusing. He tried to visualize the pieces of wall and ceiling and floor, to picture them flying up, up into the air, wrapping around the crazed woman who was tossing chunks of wall at Han. Han kept dodging, diving left and right, but one had clipped his shoulder, and another slammed into his side, making him flop down, yelling in agonized pain. He had to do something, and he had to do it now!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Please! HELP ME!” Kendall screamed out inside of his head, trying to reach out to the Force itself. “Han’s going to die if I don’t do something! Help me!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And…it worked. It was almost miraculous. The chunks of roof shot forward, ensnaring the crazed, superpowered woman, pinning her to the ground. She snarled, trying to force it off her, but it wasn’t working. She appeared trapped for now, well and truly trapped!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was then that a voice rang out. “UGH…is…is everyone okay…?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kendall looked up. Even with his injuries, Han was still trying to help move rubble, and he’d shifted some away from an enormous broken-open large ventilation tube. Several people in rather ruined protective armor suis were climbing out, blood drizzling down their heads or their arms, a Walz scientist holding her skull. “Is…is Leia alright?” She inquired.</p>
<p><br/>“Wait, Leia?” Han and Kendall looked at each other, Kendall racing over to the Walz scientist.</p>
<p><br/>“Leia was near the actualizer and right in the path of the blast when it discharged. She pushed Dr. Bryne out of the way in time but…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We believe her cells ABSORBED the energy within.” Said Dr. Bryne as she gripped her head, a huge, horrible gash had been cut out of it from a chunk of glass that had sliced right through as Han began to rip off his shirt, patching her up as best he could with Kendall getting out some Bacta Spray from his belt pouch to tend to other people’s wounds. “It’s the same way a solar panel draws in energy from the sun.”<br/><br/>“What can we do?” Han asked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I don’t think there’s anything we CAN do. The process of the bio energy stimulation’s acting in her body now. Her cells will just keep storing the radiation, building up more and more, and then…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“EVERYONE DUCK!” Kendall cried out, seeing Leia’s body glowing brightly. They all ducked down just in time as Leia let loose a loud, screeching cry. An enormous, shuddering, horrifying KRAKKA-THRA-BOOOM rang through the air, the pieces of rubble pinning her down were blown off, a shockwave rippling off her frame as her figure glowed more brightly than before. Waves of energy cascaded off of her, the immediate area around her being filled with craters as the shockwaves found their marks! They were all lucky they were far away from her, if they’d been just a foot closer…</p>
<p><br/>“See? And the longer she has the power in her, the more it’ll happen, and the greater the shockwaves.” Dr. Bryne reasoned.</p>
<p><br/>“Can we do anything?” Han begged of Dr. Jahn. “Can’t we do SOMETHING?!”<br/><br/>“I don’t think we can…unless you know a way to siphon off that energy somehow.” Dr. Jahn said sadly as she shook her head back and forth.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Maybe we can.” Kendall reasoned. “Is there anything here in this lab that could do it?”<br/><br/>“Not here in this lab. But…well, if we got her to the power plant a few miles down the road and were able to hook her up to the facility, maybe, MAYBE we could do it, but she’d be exploding dangerously all the while!” Dr. Jahn remarked. “Could we get her there in time?”<br/><br/>“We WILL.” Han insisted. “Where do you keep your vehicles?”<br/><br/>“The garage wasn’t destroyed completely, there may be something that’ll work in there. But what about her tendency to blow?” Dr. Bryne inquired as Kendall stepped forward.</p>
<p><br/>“I’ll handle it.” He insisted as he looked at Leia, who was holding her continuously burning head, cringing, screeching horribly, as if in continuous, agonizing pain. “…Leia…oh please, let this work…” Kendall insisted, as he held out a hand, taking in a deep, long breath as Han and the others looked on. All Kendall could think about was Leia, trying to help her, to save her. He kept picturing her face, remembering how he’d felt when she’d complimented his skill at lightsaber combat, remembering how the Force had come to him using her face, of all things. It knew, it KNEW Leia was the most trusted face he had in his heart. He trusted Leia to be his Mistress, he was…well…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was her padawan, wasn’t he?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And with that, it was as if a switch was turned on. Leia began to hover up, up, into the air, Kendall feeling some sweat beads break out on his head, a deep heat rising in him but…it was working. She was hovering above, high in the sky, and Han’s face lit up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Now if she “explodes” she won’t hurt anyone!” He reasoned. “We gotta hurry though. Come on, let’s get to the power plant!” He told Dr. Bryne and the other doctors. “Kid, keep my wife steady. Don’t you DARE drop her, or I’ll drop you!” He said with a bit of a teasing wave of his fist as Kendall grit his teeth.</p>
<p><br/>“I’ll try.”<br/><br/>“Like my pal Luke’s old master said, DO. Do or do not. There is no try.” Han reasoned.</p>
<p><br/>“How’re you supposed to know if you CAN do something if you don’t try, though?” Kendall began to say before Leia began to wobble about. “Ohhh no you don’t! OH no you don’t!” Kendall held up both hands, focusing intensely, a tiny bit of blood dribbling down from his nose. “OOOF. B-Better hurry, everyone. She’s…ERGH…heavy! Hoo boy, maybe she needs to hit the gym after all this!” He laughed…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Inwardly though, he felt like his body was being burned from the inside. But he couldn’t let them know how much holding her up hurt. No way. Han needed him to be strong. And Leia even MORE so. They brought over a hovercar, Kendall climbing in the back, focusing on Leia, dragging her along through the air as the car carefully went down the road towards the power plant, not too fast, to ensure Kendall didn’t lose focus.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>More blood was dribbling down from Kendall’s nostrils, his body was turning pale as Leia’s body shuddered and shook and-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>KRAKKA-THA-THROOOM! She exploded AGAIN, her body glowing very brightly, shockwaves ricocheting out! Their vehicle shook a bit, the shockwaves were getting larger as Kendall was panting heavily, some blood beginning to drizzle out the side of his ears. “ERGH…are we…almost…th-there?” He inquired as Han held his shoulder.</p>
<p><br/>“Hold on, kid. You’re doing great!” He encouraged Kendall with a gentle smile. “Keep it up, keep it up!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kendall took in deep, long breaths, closing his eyes as the hovercar finally touched down outside the power plant, the guards outside staring in confusion as the scientists approached. “What the Hell do you all think you’re doing?” One of the guards inquired as he looked at the scene before him. “What is all this?”<br/><br/>“We need to get her hooked up to the plant’s machinery, immediately!” Dr. Bryne said, reaching into her pocket, showing off her credentials. “Post haste! It’s the only way to siphon off the energy she’s putting out. Her explosions will get larger and larger until the entire city-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>KRAKKA-THA-SCHWOOOM! Everyone was knocked back slightly, Kendall letting out an agonized yell, flopping slightly onto one knee. “I CAN’T…HOLD HER MUCH LONGER!” He screamed.</p>
<p><br/>“Exactly! See?!” Dr. Bryne yelled at the guard as he hesitated.</p>
<p><br/>“I dunno, I mean…”<br/><br/>“We so don’t have time for this.” Han said, walking up to him and THA-THWAK. Punching him out. The other guards stared at this, positively stunned he’d just knocked the other guard out with a single punch before Han’s pistol was suddenly up!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>TSSEWWW! TSEEWWW! In an instant, they’d been dropped, unconscious, and Han was ushering the scientists and Kendall inside as Kendall lowered Leia down to ground level, floating her inside, and into the power plant. The scientists raced over to the central control panel, shoving technicians aside, Han ushering them to the wall with his pistol as Kendall placed Leia onto the floor. Dr. Jahn and Dr. Bryne quickly attached big, huge cables to her as Kendall kept her pinned on the ground, cuts beginning to open up all over his body as he screamed and yelled, the pressure was proving far, FAR too much.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Quickly! S-Siphon the p-power off!” He cried out as Han, nearest to the control panel, threw the switch. The biggest switch of all.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>CLUNK!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Down it went, Leia’s body turning a beautiful, bright, glowing shade of white, and then…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All of the power throughout the entire city SURGED. Every light seemed to turn into a blazing inferno, the hospitals and food stores and apartments and casinos and garages and every type of building in between suddenly tripled their output of taken-in power! The entire planet seemed to light up more brilliantly than it had ever before as Darth Furiosa and Darth Raize stared in shock, their floating vid screen displaying ten different channels at once. The two sat on their couch, amazed and stunned, their chandelier lights glowing brighter than bonfires, positively gobsmacked before…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>THWOOOSH. It was as if an enormous wind swept through Nar Shadaa. In an instant, everything seemed to return to normal, Leia moaning, her frame no longer glowing, Han kneeling by her, gently caressing her cheek as her eyes fluttered. “…H-Han…?” Leia softly muttered, looking up into his face.</p>
<p><br/>“Hey.” Han said gently, as he reached into his vest and pulled out his gift for her. “I didn’t forget. Happy Anniversary.”<br/><br/>“Aren’t you the charmer.” Leia said with a pained smile. “I ache all over, though.”<br/><br/>“Let me kiss it and make it better.” Han said, kissing her cheek, her neck, her forehead…her lips…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kendall, meanwhile, had flopped onto his back, moaning as the scientists administered some Bacta to HIM, to treat his cuts. He cringed as he spat some blood from his mouth, taking in deep, ragged breaths. He really…really hoped he wouldn’t have to do that again. Anytime soon. But at least, at long last…he’d finally proven he could move large objects with the Force. The power had always been in him, he’d just needed to be pushed to his utmost extreme to do it. And yes, it had clearly cost him a lot, he felt like his insides were burning, but…he’d done it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He’d DONE it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Heh…” Kendall smiled. “If only my dad could see me now…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And with that, he conked out, unconsciousness finally digging its claws into him, and he remembered nothing more.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. The Sith Apprentice</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Some say the night is just like the day. Nothing changes when the sun sinks low and midnight rules. Nothing changes when the shadows creep from their daytime hiding places, filling up the world. So some say.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Those people are very wrong.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>SPLASH!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The splash of dark water betrayed the young woman as she took off running through the dark forest, her skin the color of deep oak, hair tied into thick dreadlocks that bounced off her back. She was wearing a visor over her face and had light armor on, a breastplate, a few shoulder pads and arm and knee pads, the rest was all a blend of black and grey clothing as she barreled through the woods.</p>
<p><br/>“Get her, get her!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The stalking pack on her heel was surging. A dozen pulses race, blood boiling with the fervor of the hunt! So many people, all holding up high-powered rifles and pistols or shotgun-style weapons, little torches to light their way emblazoned on their shirt pockets or whatever  armor they decided to wear. The men and women assembled kept trying to follow the girl’s trail, her special weapon bouncing off her hip a bit as it hung from her belt.<br/><br/>“If she gets any deeper into that swamp…”<br/><br/></p>
<p>“I know, I know, we’ll never catch her at this rate!”<br/><br/>“Get back here, Omarosa!” <br/><br/></p>
<p>In the darkness, the young woman’s eyes, the teenage girl cringing, terror chilling the very marrow of her bones. A black and shapeless terror that was eager to creep up her spine…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Stop her! She knows the swamp like the back of her hand!”<br/><br/>“I know, I know, if we lose sight of her now, we might as well just give up!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“They’ll NEVER find me…the swamp’s my only friend unless I can get help from outside…” Omarosa muttered as she shook her head back and forth, biting her lip. She had a fairly normal-looking, calm face…or at least, it would have been calm-looking under regular circumstances. She had a small, button nose and several tattoos of deep jet black had been painted across her cheeks as she dove into a space in the swamp, through some trees. She stumbled almost blindly through the dark recesses until she realized-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Uhh…ohhh. She’d ended up at her ship. An incredibly fancy-looking, fine specimen of ship with gleaming paint job, it looked like it would take somebody an entire lifetime to save up the money to buy it. It had been her mother’s ship…her and her mother’s ship until…that day she’d lost her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>All because of that damn Luke Sky-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wait. WAIT. She was at her ship.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And her ship was out of fuel. AND she didn’t want them finding her ship anyway, breaking in and…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Frick on a strick with a brick!” Omarosa groaned as she slapped her forehead. “I wasn’t thinking about where I was running to, I just took off in a panic…I can’t let them find this. Now I need to let them see me again to get them off my back!” She muttered as she raced back the way she’d came, waiting a little while before stepping out from between the trees, and yelling out, in the direction of the mob as they were turning to go to the East…</p>
<p><br/>“Hello, boys!”<br/><br/>“YOU!” One of the men snarled, firing at her. This time she used her weapon, the distinct purple lightsaber blocking the blow, sending the blast away as she grinned before the lightsaber began to spark and hiss. Oh, not again! Her saber needed as many repairs as her ship did, coming to this planet had been nothing but trouble…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ah ha! Off in the distance was a lake. She barreled at top speed, tapping into the Force to enhance her abilities, shooting forth, flopping into the lake. SPLA-GLOOOSH! Water sprayed everywhere as the mob frowned and snarled and grumbled, looking at the dark depths in front of them.</p>
<p><br/>“Think she drowned herself?”<br/><br/>“No, she’s probably swimming off to the other side…and it’d take hours for us to circle round this stupid lake…” He grumbled as he looked across the long, large lake. They waited for a few minutes before finally taking off, grumbling and groaning, deciding to head home. Omarosa swam her way up from the lake, poking up some distance away on the same shore, hiding in the dark reeds.</p>
<p><br/>“Phew…they’re leaving. It worked. Now to get back to my ship.” She murmured to herself, carefully making her way back the way she’d come, getting onto the ship as her fancy-looking droid…or rather, his head, at least, laid on the nearby table. The droid had a humanoid body, brass in coating, slit, orange, glowing eyes, and a little antennae sticking up from the side of his head. He had a spot at the front middle of his head, a “Mouth” that looked more like an emblem plate, as he clucked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Observation: They nearly caught you. You will have to be far more careful.”<br/><br/>“Yes, because the droid who was cocky enough to let most of his body get blown apart should be lecturing ME on being careful.”</p>
<p><br/>“Commentary: Oh, how you wound me. Not as deeply as I wish I’d wounded them.” HK-47 remarked. “Commentary: Oh, to blow their knees off with a tri-light scope with my Aratech sniper rifle, watching them fall to the ground, clutching said knees before their heads are messily departed from their shoulders.”</p>
<p><br/>“Hmm. Reminds me of a puzzle. A man says you can cut off his head…”<br/><br/>“Commentary: Oooh, I am loving this already.”<br/><br/>“But you can’t touch his neck. How do you do it?”</p>
<p><br/>“Conclusion: That IS quite tricky. He’s trapped me in a logical quandary. I would not be able to cut off his head without touching his neck. Unless the man is a member of certain species that have heads, but no neck, which are not many. In which case, I have some very special buzzsaws that could accomplish it perfectly well.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Ah, we always have such fascinating conversations.”<br/><br/>“Statement: You are quite lucky I enjoy your company. I prefer only the most intelligent of conversations.” HK-47 chuckled.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Still…” Omarosa sat down on a nearby chair, sighing as she examined her near-worthless-now lightsaber. “I never should have gone to the big city with Momma, but no, no, no, I wanted to see the big city…I kept begging her to let me go with her. If that damn Luke Skywalker hadn’t been there when she went to Corsucant…” She snarled and slammed her fist down on the table, eyes blazing. “I’m gonna make him pay, soon as I get off this damn planet. It’s been totally useless being here! All this time trying to find the right new crystal for the saber and they tell me they’re all gone!”</p>
<p><br/>“Question: Indeed, I wonder who could have bought them all?” <br/><br/>“Yeah, I’ve never even heard of this damn “Dyad”.” Omarosa muttered. “…I thought maybe the Hutts were coming back for us and had bought all them up to set up a trade to lure us into a trap again, like they did with you. I barely got out of there alive last time…still, it got me you…” She added with a smirk. “Bet they never thought they’d be beaten by a GIRL.”<br/><br/>“Statement: It is impressive that a fifteen year old girl, Sith or not, could hold off 30 armed Hutt Crime Syndicate guards.”<br/><br/>“Well, it helps to have THIS!” She held up her saber and moaned. “How the hell am I gonna fix it, there’s nothing on this planet that’s good enough…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then she noticed something was on the radar on the nearby control console. “Oh!” She gasped, rising up, looking down at the screen. “We’ve got a new ship coming in!” She murmured. “Close by, at that! I may not be able to fix my saber here, but maybe I can get parts from THAT ship!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, who WAS landing on the planet? None other than Han Solo on the Millennium Falcon as Han Solo sighed, hands on his hips, looking about as Kendall exited the beautiful specimen of ship along with him. The ship was indescribable in is unique design, big, impressive, a “classic” of engineering that you couldn’t deny as Kendall’s red hair whipped about in the wind.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“This place looks like it forgot to buy new calendars…50 YEARS AGO.” Han grunted as he shook his head back and forth. “Lets not stay any longer than we have to. I don’t know what Chewie sees in Souana…I guess its super foresty and swampy and that makes him think of home.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“I’m SO honored to be able to come with you here, Mr. Solo.” Kendall said with a big grin.</p>
<p><br/>“You saved my wife, kid. I’m happy to letcha come.” Han reasoned as he looked over at a figure emerging from the trees, a special crossbow weapon across his back, a distinctly hairy, mammalian figure with a black nose, black eyes, and a distinct voice indeed! <br/><br/>“HRRRAAAHHHH!”</p>
<p><br/>“CHEWIIIIE!” Han said happily, racing over to him. Wookies were huge and tall and it looked like their entire humanoid bodies were made of hair as Han hugged Chewbacca, who hugged him back…then quickly let go. After all, a Wookie Hug could easily break bones! “G-Good to see you too, buddy!” He squeaked out as the wookie let him go, Chewbacca smiling warmly down at him as he looked up at Kendall, who nervously shook his hand.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kendall hadn’t had good experiences with Wookies. Wookies were the most popular worker besides humans on the planet of Nar Shadaa, it was FAR easier to pay them less for more work if you were an unscrupulous crook…and Nar Shadaa had a lot of crooks. So the poor Wookies, imported in from Kashykk, thought they were paying good money for good jobs often ended up doing the worst sort of work they could imagine, for less pay than many other races, almost indentured servitude. The New Republic’s rules against such practices, regrettably, didn’t apply to places like Nar Shadda, that refused, absolutely, to abide by such “overly crushing regulations”. And that had been BEFORE the Dyad, who refused to have anything to do with the Republic, calling them fascists and tyrants and that all their rules were just a boot on people’s necks and WE can handle things ourselves, thank you very much!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Now, to be fair, they’d certainly insisted that pay be equal across the board in the laws they’d had passed. But the problem was that this only applied to…well, actual workers. And if you just called the wookies “independent contractors”…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, they got less pay but more work…and thus, more injuries. So the free clinic Kendall had worked at had been their first stop for medical attention. And WOOKIES BITE. They bit a lot. They scratched and clawed and yelled. They were awful, awful patients for him and the clinic. Kendall kept trying to gently insist to the wookies that he was helping, they just had to be patient, don’t be afraid, but it never, ever seemed to work. FIVE times he’d been tossed out a window by an angry patient who felt that Kendall was just purposefully fucking with him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Perhaps it was because they’d been hurt so many times before on Nar Shadaa, it just made them trust everyone less, even a nurse like him or a doctor like Dr. Morgan. Trauma made people do a lot of horrible things.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>But even SO…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“How’s it been?” Han inquired. “How is your home away from home?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chewie sighed as he began to speak to Han. Alas, Kendall didn’t understand Wookie language very well. He’d tried as best he could to learn it, but he had a very, VERY basic understanding at best. Chewie was speaking to Han, sounding…concerned. Something about somebody who’d come to town with-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wait. HE DID recognize that word.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sith. Chewie had said a Sith was there in town. HERE, on the planet! Han looked over at Kendall, seeing his slightly confused face, then back at Chewie as he patted Chewie’s shoulder. “Sorry, buddy. My friend Kendall here doesn’t speak Wookie. I’ll have to translate.” He admitted as he turned to Kendall. “A Sith, a young one, named Omarosa showed up. Things haven’t been the same since. People shuffle around like zombies, they’re always in groups or pairs, and the town isn’t just quiet, its damn near comatose because of all the trouble she’s caused.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“We should do something, then.” Kendall admitted as he nodded his head. “I may not be the best Jedi out there but I’m pretty much the ONLY one around here. And with the three of us, we can take her. Well…I hope.” He added with a nervous tilt of his head to the side and a slight smile at Chewie.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chewie looked at Han and then let out a HAAAHURRRNNGGH.</p>
<p><br/>“Yeah, he’s got a good heart, Chewie, he can do it. He’ll just need a bit of backup.” Han reasoned. “Have you seen her? What’s she look like?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Well, according to Chewie, the Sith hung out around at night, wearing dark-colored light armor, and she had a visor over her eyes. She’d been in town to try and get hold of a surprising find…adegan crystals! Usually, “kyber crystals” were used by Jedi, they tended to be more common, but Adegan crystals were quite useful all the same if you could find certain TYPES. The rarest of all were Pontite, the most highly focused of the crystals, which shown a beautiful shimmering white, and THESE were what had been on sale for a brief period of time in Souana.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A travelling merchant had come to the city and people had been eager to buy them up! But who should come, hearing about the purchase, but the Dyad? They had agents on the lookout for just such a thing and they’d come to the place to snatch those gems up…and killed the sellers, evidently.</p>
<p><br/>“Wait, what?!” Kendall had been horrified as Chewie nodded. It had been a rather surprising thing indeed, but…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“So you like ‘em?”</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>Darth Furiosa and Darth Raize looked the crystals over, very intrigued as they let the crystals catch the glint of the sun. Both of them stood outside on the porch of the little house they were doing business in, the other people who’d assembled to try and buy the crystals grumbling a bit as they glanced around at one another, irritated that they couldn’t buy the Pontite gems now. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em><br/>“Indeed, these look wonderful. Just what we were hoping for.” Darth Furiosa remarked as she turned to Raize, who’d taken notice of something the Trandoshan traders had. She frowned as she looked at what hung from their belts, her eyes flashing red.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em><br/>“…why are…faces…hanging from your belt?”<br/><br/>“Oh, it is something of a ritual.” The female Trandoshan said as she patted her trading partner on the back, as he smiled back. “You see, if people attempt to rob us, they pay DEARLY, and we take a trophy.” The female trandoshan told Darth Furiosa, neither she nor Raize noticing Chewie was listening in using special binoculars that didn’t just let me see far distances but HEAR what was across far distances. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em><br/>“It’s a sure way to keep people from stealing from us if we cut off parts of their body! It’s a common law on Trandoshan, in fact.” The male admitted. “If you’re caught stealing and you’re an adult, on the third time you do it, they cut off a limb. Then the next time, they cut it off again and burn the spot so it takes far longer to heal. In fact, if you do it right, the arm sometimes never fully heals. The legend goes that anyone who took on that Wookie, Chewbacca, who got his arms ripped off, NEVER grew back normal EVER!” The male confessed. “Oh, the stories we could tell you about him.”<br/><br/>“Yeah, wookies love ripping arms off. Its their thing.” The female trandoshan confessed as Darth Raize and Furiosa stared at them, clearly looking rather offended at what the two had said about Wookies. </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em><br/>“You don’t think highly of them, do you?” </em>
</p>
<p>
  <em><br/>“Well, they don’t think highly of us, to be fair.” The male said with a shrug.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>That, evidently, was the wrong answer, Darth Furiosa had sliced both of the two across in a diagonal form, their bodies crumbling to the ground as the people assembled yelled and gasped in horror at the sight, Raize groaning. “Holy FUCK!”<br/><br/>“Don’t say a word, Rey, I’m not in the mood for it. The heteros were making me upseteros!” She muttered darkly as she put her lightsaber away and stomped off, carrying the crystals they’d gotten with her as Raize sighed deeply, pinching the space between her eyes and then glancing back at the others.</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em><br/>“Well, uh…sorry about the mess?” She shrugged a little and then headed off to join her beloved Sith wife as they headed for their ship, Chewbacca frowning darkly at this display of sudden brutality. He wasn’t against being brutal but somehow this had seemed so…petty. He’d mellowed a bit in the past few years since Leia and Han had been married and he’d been trying, really trying, to rein in his temper. He didn’t even rip or threaten to rip people’s arms off if they beat him in chess games anymore! </em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>When the others had long since left, leaving the dead bodies of the traders behind, Chewie finally walked up to where they’d laid. Those folk had stripped EVERYTHING from them, their bags, their clothing, all gone. Nothing but their bisected flesh remained as Chewie quietly sighed and began to drag them into the woods, to light a little funeral pyre. He wasn’t sure why…but as he sat at the fire and watched their bodies slowly burn within the flames, seeing this brought a sense of calm to him. The uneasy, disgusted feeling he’d had in the pit of his stomach faded more and more.</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>“That was damn decent of you.” Kendall offered as Chewie smiled back at him, the three of them now relaxing outside the Millennium Falcon as they sat around a stump, Han pouring everyone some drinks from a little personal silver bottle he kept on his belt, giving one to Kendall. “Uh…”<br/><br/>“Live a little!”<br/><br/>“Um…o-okay…” He nervously remarked, taking the glass offered and pouring it back. GLUG! He let the drink wash down his throat, blinking a bit, and then…<br/><br/>“I…ERGH…n-need to…b-be right back!” He raced off for the woods, coughing and hacking and-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGHK! “Oh fuck me-” HUUUAAAGGGHKKK! “Oh stop oh stop-” PUUUAARRGGGHHHH! “I’ve nothing left to throw up but my nuts-” OURRRGGGHHHH!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At long, long last, he’d finally steadied himself and took in long, deep, rasping breaths, cringing before he noticed, all of a sudden, somebody was sneaking up on him from behind. He knew he had at most, mere miliseconds to act, so he did the only thing he could think of…and pretended to collapse, unconscious, in his own vomit. PLORSCH-PLOP. Face down, twitching a bit.</p>
<p><br/>“YECCCCHHH. The idiot passed out in his own puke.” Omarosa cringed as she shook her head back and forth, lowering the big stick she’d had. “Well, at least I don’t have to waste time on him…now for that ship.” She turned around, sneaking towards the Millennium Falcon, Kendall waiting patiently. He held his breath, making sure she was VERY far away as he rose up, ignoring the foul stench and the puke he was dribbling with as he followed after her.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She was approaching a back vent of the Millenium Falcon, trying to sneak up inside the ship. And it appeared as though Han and Chewie, currently cheerily chatting it up and trying to out-drink one another, didn’t notice her. Good. Kendall waited until she’d snuck on board the ship, and couldn’t see HIM, and then quickly barreled over to the two.</p>
<p><br/>“Hey, Ken-”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>THRRRSSCHH! Kendall broke the shot glasses they had, smacking it out of their hands, the bottle Han had been pouring with flopping to the side. The two stared in surprise at his dripping, foul-smelling form in confusion and disgust as Kendall put a finger to his lips. “SHHHH! Someone snuck onto the ship!” He whispered. “Through one of the back vents. She’s that Sith we were looking for. She’s there right now!” He whispered. “You two, go into the ship like you’re drunk as skunks. Get her off her guard. I’ll sneak in after you.” He reasoned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two stared at one another, then nodded, hiccupping a bit. They were a BIT drunk indeed, but not so drunk they couldn’t figure out what was happening. The two rose up and Han and Chewie made their way towards the Millenium Falcon’s ramp, heading inside, and talking loudly.</p>
<p><br/>“So then I said, “Rectum? Damn near KILLED ‘em”!”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chewie pretended to find this immensely funny, laughing uproariously as the two shambled their way onto the ship, Omarosa hiding behind a nearby computer, eyes narrowed as they headed for what was clearly the sleeping quarters in the ship. She waited patiently, holding her breath as Han belched out a “Goodnight, Ch-Chewie, g-gonna take a little nap…” and then a loud FWUMPH rang through the air as he hopped into the bed, Chewie folding up inside his own as she breathed a sigh of relief. <br/><br/>“Phew. Thank goodness. Now to look for something to fix my ship.” She remarked as she headed for the bridge of the ship, looking around at the controls. “Hmm…okay, there’s going to be something here that’ll show where…ah-ha.” She pressed a few buttons on the ship’s controls as a small green and black diagram of the Millennium Falcon popped up, revealing the ship schematics. “Ah ha, the engine room’s there. Okay, now we’ll just do a breakdown of the parts and…” She began to type into the controls only to suddenly stiffen at a super foul, nasty smell. Wait, what was-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>THA-THWAAAAAAM! Kendall knew full well that a hand-to-hand combat scenario with her probably was a bad idea. But the good news was that there was one part she had on her body that wasn’t as heavily armored…her head. And a real strongly-thrown bottle half-full of booze had sufficed just fine for what he wanted. He might not have been a good shot with a gun…but thank goodness he’d been a good shot THIS time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She crumbled onto the ground as Kendall quickly knelt down by her frame and began to forcibly rip her armor and her belt and weaponry off. No way was he gonna have her having access to any fancy tricks. “Han! Chewie! It worked! Now lets tie her on up!” He cried out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>… Omarosa awoke with her hands, feet, legs, and arms bound down as she looked about. She frowned darkly, unable to move her hands to do any kind of Force techniques, and Kendall looking down at her, standing closest, his lightsaber held up in the direction of her face, and Han and Chewie, both with weapons trained on her, stood to either side. “Your name?” Kendall demanded of her. “And why were you on the Millennium Falcon?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…I’m Darth Omarosa.” The orange-eyed teenage girl grunted. She looked to be around 17, a scowl on her features as Kendall really looked her over, without her visor or anything. She had a plain white shirt and khaki pants on underneath all her fancy armor, the tattoos on her face also across her exposed midriff, and she had a rather interesting belly button ring at that. She gave Kendall a dark look, examining him in return, noticing the distinct marking around his neck, the clear and obvious sign of a hangman’s noose left over upon it. “…what were you hanged for?”</p>
<p><br/>“Being gay. What’re the tattoos for?”<br/><br/>“Being a Sith. It’s a proud tradition of the family I come from!” She insisted. “I was adopted into the Omarosa family as the THIRD Omarosa ever. Before that was my mother and my grandmother, also Darth Omarosas!” She bragged.</p>
<p><br/>“Never heard of ‘em.” Han shrugged.</p>
<p><br/>“You wouldn’t, we’re from far outside the Outer Rim. You wouldn’t believe how difficult it was to get here, let alone set up any kind of home here, especially with the Jedi being around. But eventually, we did it. Mom snuck into the Jedi Temple itself, right under their nose, to steal books from their library that had important knowledge we could use to hide ourselves away and gain power in the Outer Rim, and bit by bit, we began to build our lives anew, bigger and better than before. Even when Grandma Oma died, Momma Rosa and I were doing just fine up until that…that FUCKING Jedi ruined everything!” Omarosa snarled, spitting on the floor as Kendall blinked.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“What? Did the Jedi find out you somehow snuck into their…wait, how did that even HAPPEN?! Why wouldn’t the Jedi have guards? And wouldn’t they notice important scrolls or the like were missing from their vaults? And wouldn’t they be able to sense Sith sneaking in?” Kendall asked, confused.</p>
<p><br/>“You don’t know anything about Sith. Neither did that scummy Jedi, Luke Skywalker!” Omarosa snarled. “My mother was on Corsucant to try and sneak some stuff out of the temple remains there that had been left untouched for so long when who should turn up but that…that stupid, smug-faced PRICK!” Her eyes were now brimming with tears as she hissed furiously. “He killed my mom right in front of me! I’ve been trying to track him down ever since for that! I’ve sworn to make him pay! Unfortunately, my fucking saber AND my ship broke down and I had to make a landing here on this backwater planet…”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Chewie, Han and Kendall were staring at her, each having a different reaction. Chewie’s mouth just hung open, staring in shock at her. Kendall looked dumbly at her, then Han, then Chewie, then back at her, blinking slowly and stupidly. But Han looked positively furious.</p>
<p><br/>“Luke wouldn’t do that.” He snapped, his eyes glittering. “I KNOW Luke. I’ve known him for years. He’s a great kid, wonderful guy, he’s as decent and kind as they come. He wouldn’t just kill a Sith for no reason, even if she WAS a Sith.”</p>
<p><br/>“I SAW it! I was there!” Omarosa snapped back at him as Kendall flinched at this, looking at Han, biting his lip.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Was it true? He had to admit he basically had been hero-worshipping Leia since she’d been teaching him how to be a Jedi, he was her padawan, after all, and he’d been hearing nothing but wonderful stories about Luke and how HE’D, in turn, helped to teach Leia! And Han had been regaling him with stories about Luke’s compassion, his bravery, his kindly, humble exploits…Luke seemed like a perfectly wonderful person. But…still…Omarosa had outright said she’d SEEN it happen and she’d been right there, and she seemed so fervently insistent it DID happen…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Could Leia’s love for her brother, Han’s for his best friend, be blinding them to the possibility that maybe Luke HAD done this? After all, plenty of people seemed wonderful on the outside but were, inside, much more complicated…or much worse…in real life. How many times had he turned on the news to find out some celebrity he’d thought was a perfectly decent sort was, in reality, a scumbag, or a drunk, or a druggie? Or all three, quite often?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…we need to find Luke.” Kendall reasoned, Han, Chewie and Omarosa looking at him in surprise. “…I…I HAVE to know. I have to know if its true…”</p>
<p><br/>“Great…” Han sighed, running his hands through his hair. “What a pain. Count yourself lucky, girl. Real lucky that THIS Jedi here’s deciding to spare you…”</p>
<p><br/>“Well, a real Jedi wouldn’t kill an unarmed, helpless opponent…” Kendall reasoned as Omarosa spat on the ground.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Fuck the Jedi!”</p>
<p><br/>“HRRRNNNH!”<br/><br/>“Chewie wants to know if we can we gag her?”<br/><br/>“No!”<br/><br/>“I’m captain of this ship, so technically, I can give the orders. I’m only interested in going along with this to hear Luke’s side of the story.” Han reasoned.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“Okay, please don’t gag her.” Kendall sighed. “Let’s just leave her be in this room. Where’s Luke now, anyway?”<br/><br/>“Well…” Han thought about it. “Probably at his house on Tattooine with Mara.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>“…wait, who?!” Kendall’s eyes widened.</p>
<p><br/>“He’s married. I’m pretty sure I told you.” Han looked at Kendall, raising an eyebrow up. “Remember, I brought up how Mara carried him home after he wore himself down trying to lift the X-Wing up from off the runpad when he’d had too many firewhiskeys that time he and I went out to celebrate the anniversary of the Empire’s defeat?”</p>
<p><br/>“You brought her up but you never said…wow, I…I had no idea!” Kendall was astounded as he and Chewie and Han left Omarosa alone, Kendall sitting down in a chair, thinking over what he’d just learned. As the words bounced around in his head, he realized he’d just overlooked something. Something Chewie had heard.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>“Holy FUCK!”</em>
</p>
<p>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>“Don’t say a word, Rey, I’m not in the mood for it. The heteros were making me upseteros!” </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wait...</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Rey.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>REY.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Darth Raize’s real name was…Rey. Well, now her “Darth” title made a bit more sense. Which meant that Furiosa’s name was probably something else. Maybe something with an “F” in it like Franciscka, or “Francine”, or “Falla” or the like. Interesting. “Rey”. Eh?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Meanwhile, Omarosa was left alone in the room as she grumbled to herself. “I swear, I’m gonna crap down that Jedi scumbag’s neck.” She muttered darkly, shaking her head back and forth before she realized-</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Oh crap!<br/><br/>“Wait, don’t take off! Please don’t take off! All my stuff! My ship! HK!” She cried out as Kendall sighed and rose up, approaching the doorway and opening up the door again to look in on her. “Please, we GOTTA go to my ship! It was my mom’s! It was custom made!”<br/><br/>“Alright, fine, fine…what does it look like?”<br/><br/>“It’s a Dual-Reydron Engine, Class-A small frigate fighter-style ship. My assassin droid is on there-”</p>
<p><br/>“Dual-Reh-Okay, I barely know ANYTHING about ships, but that “Reydron” stuff is supposed to be super fancy!” Kendall was astounded, mouth agape. “And an ASSASSIN DROID?! How did you AFFORD all this shit?!”<br/><br/>“Well, when you’re a Sith, things just fall into your lap.” Omarosa said with a grin. “Because you make other people put them there. Or you’ll cut their heads off. My grandma explained that very carefully to the Hutt she took the ship from. They were SUPER mad about that, but they couldn’t do a damn thing.” She remarked nonchalantly. “What about your parents?”<br/><br/>“I never had a mom. My dad raised me until I was a pre-teen, then he got called off planet to go after some important Jedi ruins and never came back.” Kendall sighed. “He did a lot of archeological work, but he always came back. Well…until he didn’t. Then, since he couldn’t protect me anymore, I moved around a lot. I tried to keep my sexuality hidden because just being gay was essentially a sin on Logos. But word gets around even when mum’s the word, so I finally left the planet myself and just made a new life for myself.” He told Omarosa. “I arrived on Nar Shadaa with nothing but the clothes on my back and the money in my pocket, hitching a ride. No ship. No fancy armor. No droid. No…nothing.” He sighed as he shook his head. “…you are REALLY lucky that Han likes me and MIGHT just be willing to stop by your ship to get your stuff.” He sighed. “So where’s the coordinates?” He wanted to know.</p>
<p>Omarosa grinned. “Maybe you’re not such a Jedi scumbag after all.” She reasoned cheerily. “You must be one of the good ones!”</p>
<p><br/>“…I’m flattered.”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I’ve been meaning to do a story with my character Kendall for quite some time now, and at long last, I finally got a chance. So here’s the beginning of my little Star Wars story. Hope you all enjoyed it. I'm doing this not just to fully dive into themes I've never really explored much of before, but also because, for one, I REALLY love Star Wars. And two, because I want this story to be a reaffirmation of what it represents to me, and probably to a lot of all of you. Don't be afraid to leave feedback. I'll never improve without it. Just...no hate speech like calling Kendall the f word or things like that, thanks. I'm going to delete that kind of thing immediately.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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